“I beg your pardon. The envelope which M. le directeur gave me was the one which I slipped into M. le directeur’s pocket,” explained Mame Giry. “The one which I took to the ghost’s box was another envelope, just like it, which the ghost gave me beforehand and which I hid up my sleeve.”

So saying, Mame Giry took from her sleeve an envelope ready prepared and similarly addressed to that containing the twenty-thousand francs. The managers took it from her. They examined it and saw that it was fastened with seals stamped with their own managerial seal. They opened it. It contained twenty Bank of St. Farce notes like those which had so much astounded them the month before.