Chapter 101 Secosette walks side by side with the stranger in the dark

We have said that Cosette was not afraid. The man talks to her.His voice was dignified, almost muffled. "My boy, what you are carrying is too heavy for you." Cosette raised her head, and replied: "Yes, sir." "Give it to me," the man went on, "and I'll get it for you." Cosette lost the bucket.The man walked with her. "It's really heavy." He gritted his teeth and said. Then he added: "Son, how old are you?" "Eight, sir." "Have you come this way from far away?" "From the spring in the woods."

"Are you still far away?" "It takes a quarter of an hour to go from here." The man paused for a while without opening his mouth, then suddenly asked: "Don't you have a mother?" "I don't know," the boy replied. Before the man could speak, she added: "I don't think I have a mother. Everyone else does. Me, I don't." After a while of silence, she said again: "I don't think I've ever had a mother." The man stopped, put down the bucket, stooped, and put his two hands on the child's shoulders, trying to see her face in the dark.

A faint gleam from the sky revealed Cosette's thin features. "What's your name?" said the man. "Cosette." The man seemed to have been electrocuted.He looked at it for a while longer, then withdrew his hand from Cosette's shoulder, picked up the bucket, and began to walk again. After a while, he asked: "Son, where do you live?" "I live at Montfermeil, do you know where it is?" "Are we going there now?" "Yes, sir." He was silent again, and then asked again: "Who sent you to fetch water in the woods at this hour?"

"It's Madame Thenardier." The man tried to sound calm when he spoke, but his voice trembled strangely, and he said: "What does she do, your Madame Thenardier?" "She's my boss," said the boy. "She keeps an inn." "An inn?" said the man. "Yes, I'll spend the night there tonight. You lead me there." "That's where we're going," said the boy. The man walked fairly quickly.Cosette had no trouble keeping up with him.She no longer feels tired.From time to time she raised her eyes to look at the man with an air of inexpressible serenity and trust.She had never been taught to worship God and pray.But she felt something in her, like hopes and joys flying to the sky.

After a few minutes of this, the man said again: "Is there no maid in Madame Thenardier's house?" "No, sir." "Are you alone?" "Yes, sir." The conversation paused again.Cosette raised her voice and said: "It should be said that there are two little girls." "What little girl?" "Penny and Zema." In his reply the child thus simplified the two romantic names which Madame Thenardier loved. "What are Penny and Zima?" "Mademoiselle Thenardier, that is to say, her daughter." "What are the two of them doing?"

"Oh!" said the child, "they have pretty dolls, and all kinds of things with gold in them. They make games, they play." "Play all day?" "Yes, sir." "And you?" "Me, I work." "Work all day?" The child raised her large eyes, and almost shed a tear, but no one saw it in the dark, and she answered softly: "Yes, sir." She was silent for a while, then continued: "Sometimes, after I finish my work, I will play if people allow me." "How do you play?" "I can play with whatever I want. As long as no one cares about me. But I don't have anything interesting. Penny and Zima don't allow me to play with their dolls. I only have a small lead knife, which is so long."

The child held out her little finger to compare. "That kind of knife can't cut it?" "Cut well, sir," said the boy, "cut lettuce and fly heads." They had reached the village, and Cosette led the stranger through the streets.They passed the bakery, but it did not occur to Cosette that she should buy a loaf to take home with her.The man didn't ask her any more questions, just looked sad and didn't say a word.They passed the chapel, and the man, seeing the open shops, asked Cosette: "Are you going to the market here today?" "No, sir, it's Christmas."

When they were almost at the inn, Cosette gently pushed his arm. "gentlemen?" "What is it, my boy?" "We'll be home soon." "What about getting home?" "Let me carry the bucket now." "why?" "Because if my wife sees someone else fetching water for me, she'll beat me." The man handed the bucket back to her.Not long after, they arrived at the gate of the inn.