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Behind the wall , Erik was laughing and talking , and he began to show Christine his tricks . He was the greatest ventriloquist in the world and could send his voice anywhere he liked , so he made it speak from a little box on the left of the fireplace and from another on the right . One voice asked , “ Shall I turn the scorpion ? ” Another asked , “ Shall I turn the grasshopper ? ” Then he made his voice croak like Carlotta’s toad , and then he made it whisper the words which the managers had heard in Box Five on the night of the chandelier . “ Erik , it is very hot in here , ” said Christine . “ The wall is burning ! ” “ Of course , ” said Erik . “ It is because of the forest next door . Didn’t you see that it is an African forest ? ” His terrible laughter covered her cries . Then they heard a body being dragged across the floor and a door slamming , and after that there was nothing but silence and the growing heat of a tropical forest . XIII . The Scorpion and the Grasshopper The Persian knew that the forest was only a trick . In one corner of the room stood the iron tree , and the six mirrors repeated it again and again until it became a thousand trees . Behind the mirrors there were turning drums with painted scenes on them , so Erik could change the picture whenever he liked . The walls were heated by electricity , and soon the heat would be too strong to bear . The Persian also saw that some of the mirrors were scratched and cracked , because another prisoner had kicked against them in his despair . It must have been Joseph Buquet , who had finally hanged himself on the iron branch . “ We are in a small room , ” the Persian told Raoul again and again . “ That is what you must keep saying to yourself . There is a door somewhere in these walls , and I shall find it . ” He began to feel every mirror with his fingers , looking for the hidden spring that would open the door . It might be a tiny point on the glass , no bigger than a pea , so he worked slowly and carefully , panel after panel . But the heat grew stronger all the time , and the young man began to lose his mind . Raoul walked up and down , shouted for Christine and struck his head against the glass . Then he lay down on the floor and said calmly that the view of the forest was splendid . Hours passed in this way . Once the Persian had to take a few steps to calm his companion , and when he came back , he could no longer find the panel where he had stopped , so he had to begin all over again . Soon he too was burning with fever and thirst . Night fell suddenly in the forest , as it does in hot countries , but the heat did not go away with the light . In the moonlight they heard a lion roaring close beside them . “ There he is , behind the trees ! ” said Raoul , and he fired his pistol at the sound . He did not hit any lion , of course , but only broke a piece of mirror .
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