Chapter 114 Four find a way out

In order to understand what will be described below, we must correctly understand the situation of Zhibi Hutong, especially the corner left on our left when we walked out of Polonceau Street and turned into Zhibi Hutong.Along the right side of Zhibi Hutong until Birkbus Street, there are almost all poor-looking houses along the way; on the left side, there is only one house, which is more serious in style and consists of several parts. , it gradually rises one or two stories higher towards the Via Bicobus, so that the house is very high on the side of the Via Bicobus, but quite high on the side of the Via Polonceau. short.At the corner we mentioned earlier, it was so low that there was only one wall.This wall does not form a square corner with Polonceau Street, but forms a sloping wall with a thinner wall thickness. Under the cover of its left and right corners, this sloping wall can be seen no matter standing on the Polonzo Street. People on the side of Longsuo Street or those standing on the side of Zhibi Hutong could not see it.

The wall connecting the two corners of this inclined wall extends as far as the house No. 49 on the side of the Rue Polonceau, and on the side of the Rue Straight--this side is much shorter--to the house mentioned above. The peak of the dark building forms a new concave angle with the peak.The shape of the mountain peak is also gloomy, and there is only one window on the wall, it should be said, there are only two panel windows, which are nailed with zinc sheets and are permanently closed. The description of the land which we have given here is in perfect agreement with the actual situation, and will certainly call forth the most exact recollections in the minds of those who have lived in this region.

The face of the sloping wall was completely covered by something, which looked like a tall, big and ugly door.In fact, it is just some strips of wooden boards that have been put together and nailed straight to the wall. The upper board is wider and the lower board is narrower.There is a big car door next to it, which is the same size as an ordinary big car door. Judging from the appearance, the age of that door is about fifty years. A linden branch protruded from the top of the sloped wall, and the wall on the Rue Polonceau was covered with ivy. When Jean Valjean was at a loss, he saw the building, which was deserted, as if no one lived in it, and wanted to find his way out there.He hastily checked it with his eyes.I thought in my heart, if I could get into it, it might be saved.He first had an idea and a glimmer of hope.

Part of the rear window of the building faces Zhibi Street, and in a part of this part, every window on every floor is equipped with an old lead funnel.Various drains from a main pipe were connected to funnels like a tree painted on the back wall.These branch pipes are twists and turns, like a dead vine attached to the back wall of the manor house. It was the grotesque branches made of lead and iron pipes that first attracted Jean Valjean's attention.He made Cosette sit down against a stone tablet, told her to be silent, and then ran to the place where the water pipe and the street joined.Maybe there's a way to climb into the building from here.But the water pipe was rotten and useless, and the connection with the wall was extremely weak.Besides, every window in that deserted house, including the attic, was all fitted with thick iron bars.The moonlight was also shining on this side, and the man guarding the street might see Jean Valjean climb over the wall.And what about Cosette?How to get her up four floors?

He gave up the idea of ​​climbing the water pipe, lying on the ground, along the base of the wall, and returned to Polonceau Street. When he returned to the base of the sloping wall where Cosette had been, he found that this place was invisible to others.We said earlier that he was in this place, hidden from sight from any side, and hidden in the shadows.Besides, there are two more doors.Maybe it can be pried open.In the wall where the lindens and ivy were seen, there was evidently a garden, in which he could hide at least the rest of the night, even though there were no leaves on the trees.

Time passed quickly.He has to act quickly. He pushed the big car door, and immediately noticed that it was firmly nailed inside and out. He pushed the door with greater hope.It is already dilapidated, and it is tall and wide, so it is even weaker. The wooden boards are rotten, and there are only three long iron sheets, which are all rusted.It might be possible to punch a hole in the decayed wood. After looking carefully, he realized that it was not a door.It had neither buckets nor hinges, nor locks nor seams in between.Some long strips of iron sheets were randomly nailed horizontally on it, not coherent with each other.From the cracks in the planks, he could vaguely see the ballast and stones in the compound soil, and people who walked through this place ten years ago could still see it.He was so disappointed that he had to admit that what looked like a door was just the back wainscoting of a house.It is not difficult to pry the board open, but there is a wall behind the board.