This paragraph ran, word for word, as follows: "'5.

Or if the manager, in any month, delay for more than a fortnight the payment of the allowance which he shall make to the Opera ghost, an allowance of twenty thousand francs a month, say two hundred and forty thousand francs a year.' "M.

Poligny pointed with a hesitating finger to this last clause, which we certainly did not expect.
"'Is this all?
Does he not want anything else ?' asked Richard, with the greatest coolness.
"'Yes, he does,' replied Poligny.
"And he turned over the pages of the memorandum-book until he came to the clause specifying the days on which certain private boxes were to be reserved for the free use of the president of the republic, the ministers and so on.

At the end of this clause, a line had been added, also in red ink: "'Box Five on the grand tier shall be placed at the disposal of the Opera ghost for every performance.' "When we saw this, there was nothing else for us to do but to rise from our chairs, shake our two predecessors warmly by the hand and congratulate them on thinking of this charming little joke, which proved that the old French sense of humor was never likely to become extinct.

Richard added that he now understood why MM.