The servants went down into the cellars, which were quite extensive; they went through every part of them, calling their master, but they found no one.
“Now let’s go up under the eaves,” said Mademoiselle Mélie; “for I am convinced monsieur is in the house.”
They visited the attics, then the loft, but they did not find Chamoureau.
“It must be that monsieur’s fallen into one of the wells,” cried the gardener; “there’s two in the garden!”
And they were going down to inspect the wells, when, as they reached the second floor, Mademoiselle Mélie thought that she heard a voice coming from the end of a corridor which led to the toilet rooms.
“Wait a minute!” she said; “I heard something that sounded like a voice calling; it came from this direction.”
They walked along the corridor, and soon they heard Chamoureau’s voice distinctly, crying:
“Holà! help! this way! come and let me out! Sapristi! I’ve been shut up here since morning, and I can’t get out!”
“Oh! mon Dieu! monsieur is shut up there! let’s hurry!”
The little cabinet was at the very end of the corridor, and was lighted from above only; to open the door, one had simply to push it, then it closed automatically. But there was nothing inside to take hold of—neither knob nor latch—so that the person who entered the place, if he allowed the door to close, could not get out until someone came to set him free.