Having played his little comedy with consummate skill, Coucon hastened to the carriage he had kept waiting, and drove to the HÔtel de Monte-Cristo. He was in such haste to inform Goutran that he had successfully fulfilled his mission, that he forgot to disembarrass himself of his fancy costume, so that when he appeared before Madame Caraman, the good woman uttered a cry of terror.

"It is only I—Coucon."

Madame protested against his selecting a time like this to indulge in a masquerade.

"It is nothing of the kind," answered Coucon, impatiently. "Where is Monsieur Goutran?"

"I have not seen the gentlemen since you went out."

"Then they must be in Miss Jane's room still?"

"I suppose so."

"We will go there at once, then."

But the Zouave was interrupted by a strange sound like that made by a heavy hammer at some distance.

Madame turned pale.

"You know, Coucon, that I am not a coward, but I tell you I can't make out that sound. I have heard it now for some time."

"It seems to come from the cellar."

"Yes, that is what I think. But let us tell the friends."

They by this time had reached Jane's door, on which they knocked. No reply. Then, after knocking and listening, Madame said:

"We must go in!"

She opened the door, and both uttered a cry on finding the chamber empty. The iron panel had closed, and no one would have suspected its existence.

Coucon could not believe his eyes. He ran through every room, but those they sought had vanished. They had not gone out of the hÔtel, for Madame had guarded it.

"Well!" cried Coucon, "vanished like Miss Jane, like the Vicomte Esperance!"

Hark! Again they heard the strange noise.

Coucon, born and bred in Paris, had read many novels and seen many plays. He at once announced that the house they were in had subterranean passages.

"But there are no doors."

"What of that!"

He dashed from the room, and came back with hammer and chisel!

"What are you going to do?"

"Demolish the house, if necessary."

Madame wrung her hands.

"We shall be forgiven if we make mistakes," said Coucon. "We can do only our best."

And Coucon began to tear up the carpet, and then to sound the boards.

"Above," he said, looking up, "are the bath rooms, and I think we had best begin by pulling down the hangings on the wall."

"Oh! that is wicked!"

It was of no use to argue, the Zouave had made up his mind, and he ripped off the silk as if it had been old cotton. Madame, fired by his example, went to work also. While they were thus frantically busy, the door-bell rang.

"It is Miss Carmen," cried Coucon. "She may be able to tell us something."

He hastened to the door. It was Carmen, as he had supposed.

"My friends," she said, "where is Goutran?"

"I do not know," was the reply.

"I will tell you, then. He, with Monsieur Fanfar are prisoners in this house."

"What did I tell you!" shouted Coucon. "And now, listen—the noise has begun again."

Seizing the hammer, Coucon struck three hard blows on the walls at regular intervals. He waited and listened. Three blows answered him. He struck again, varying the number, which were immediately repeated.

"Yes, it is plain. Our friends hear us, and wish to communicate with us. But hark! they have begun." Twenty-five blows were struck, one after the other, in quick succession. The three looked at each other, greatly troubled.

"The twenty-five letters of the alphabet!" cried Madame.

"Yes," said Carmen, "repeat, to prove that you understand."

After repeated experiments it was found that communication was easy, and Carmen spelled out:

"There is an iron door under the silk."

"I knew it!" Coucon exclaimed, "I had began to tear it off when you came."

They pulled off the silk, and suddenly Coucon exclaimed:

"Here is the door!" Without well knowing what he was doing, Coucon pressed the knob, and the panel flew open so quickly that Coucon was nearly knocked over. "Take the light and come!" he shouted.

Carmen snatched the candelabra, and they passed through the door.

It will be remembered what happened when Goutran and his friends entered the passage. When their feet touched the stairs the panel closed. In fact, a secret mechanism connected the first stair with the iron door. Those who did not know it became prisoners at once, while others simply stepped over this stair, and so left the iron panel open. But neither Coucon nor the others knew this. Down went Coucon's foot in the wrong place, and the panel swung to. At the same moment Fanfar, Goutran and Bobichel appeared. They had been guided by the light.

"Goutran!" cried Carmen, running toward him.

"What! is it you who has delivered us?"

They went back all together, to find themselves prisoners? No, for Coucon had dropped the hammer, which accidentally fell in the aperture, thus preventing the door from closing entirely when the spring on the stair was touched. They were saved!

In Jane's room they held a consultation. Carmen communicated what she had heard, and showed the note she had taken from Laisangy.

"But where is the place he speaks of?" asked Fanfar.

"I can show you," she said, quietly.

Coucon ran to the stables, and in ten minutes the carriage stood at the door.

"Heaven grant that we arrive in time!" said Fanfar.

Alas! it was a vain hope. Much time had been lost while the three men had been shut up. Their candles had burned out. Fanfar tore a rail from the stairs and began to sound the wall, and suddenly they heard themselves answered, but all the time they were at a loss to understand how they had been able to establish such prompt communication. But this was no time for explanation. All they now thought of was Esperance. The carriage was driven at full speed toward Courberrie.