Chapter 218 Sixteen Arrangements to an English tune popular in 1832

Marius sat down on his bed.It was about half past five.Only half an hour left to start.He heard the beating of his own arteries, like a clock in the dark.It occurred to him that at this moment two forces were secretly active at the same time.Crime is advancing from one side, and law is coming from another.He wasn't afraid, but he couldn't help feeling trembling when he thought of what was about to happen.Just like those people who are suddenly attacked by an astonishing risk, the passage of the whole day is like a nightmare to him. In order to prove to himself that he is not controlled by the nightmare at all, he needs to reach into his vest pocket at any time Accept the cold feeling those two steel pistols gave him.

The snow had stopped falling, and the moon, breaking through the fog, was growing brighter, and its clear light and the white reflections of the snow complemented each other, giving the house a look of daylight. There is light in the slums of Jondrette.Marius saw bursts of red light shooting like blood from the hole in the wall. From practical observation, such light is unlikely to be emitted by a candle.Besides, in the Jondrettes' house no one moved, no one spoke, there was no sound, the silence was so cold and so deep that, had it not been for the light of the fire, Marius would have thought he was next to the tomb.

Gently he took off his boots and pushed them under the bed. A few minutes later, Marius heard the sound of the door below slamming and turning in the bucket, and with a heavy, hasty step, he went up the stairs and passed through the passage. There was a sound of the iron bolt on the next door, and it opened, and Jondré Te is back. Immediately there were voices of several people talking.It turned out that the whole family was in that dilapidated den, but no one said anything when the parents were away, just like the pack of little wolves when the old wolf was away. "It's me," he said.

"Hello, good papa!" screamed the two girls. "How?" asked the mother. "Everything is fine," replied Jondrette, "except that my feet are as cold as frozen dog meat. Well, yes, you have changed your clothes. You have to gain the confidence of others, which is absolutely necessary." "I'm all ready to go." "You haven't forgotten what I taught you, have you? You can do it all?" "do not worry." "But..." said Jondrette.He didn't finish that sentence. Marius heard him put something heavy on the table, perhaps the blunt chisel he had bought.

"Ah, did you eat anything?" "Yes," said the mother, "I ate three large potatoes, with a little salt. I cooked them on this fire." "Good," Jondrette said. "Tomorrow I will take you for a meal. There is a whole duck, and there are side dishes. You can eat as well as Charles X. Everything goes well!" Then lowered his voice and added: "The mouse cage is open. And all the cats are here." He lowered his voice and said: "Put this on the fire." Marius heard the clash of tongs or some other iron object with coal.Jondrette added:

"You oiled the door bucket? You can't make it sound." "Painted." The mother replied. "What time is it?" "It's almost six o'clock. St. Mita just knocked half past." "Damn it!" said Jondrette. "The little one should go watch the wind. Come, you two, listen to me." Then there was a murmur of murmurs. Jondrette raised his voice again and said: "Is Birgon's mother gone?" "Let's go," said the mother. "Are you sure there's no one in the next room?" "He hasn't been home all day, and you know it's time for him to eat dinner."

"Can you hold it steady?" "Hold it firmly." "Never mind," continued Jondrette, "it can never do any harm to go to his room and see if he is at home. My dear girl, take a candle and go and see." Marius hastily got on his hands and knees, and crawled quietly under the bed. Before he curled up under the bed, he saw the light coming from the crack in the door. "Dad," cried a voice, "he's out." He recognized the voice of the big girl. "Did you go in and see?" her father asked. "No," answered the girl, "his key is in the door, so he must have gone out."

her father shouted: "We still have to go in and have a look." The door opened, and Marius saw Miss Jondrette enter with a candle in her hand.She was still the same as in the morning, but even more terrifying in the candlelight. She came straight to the bed, and for a moment Marius panicked beyond words, but there was a mirror on the wall beside the bed, and this was the place she was going to.Standing on tiptoe, she looked at herself in the mirror.From the next room came the sound of scrap metal being turned over. She smoothed her hair with the palm of her hand, and while she was smiling in the mirror, she hummed softly in her cracked and miserable voice:

But Marius trembled violently.He felt that it was impossible for her not to hear his breathing. She went to the window, looked out, and spoke aloud with her characteristic half-mad air. "Paris is so ugly when it's in a white shirt!" she said. She went to the mirror again, and made all kinds of strange faces, sometimes frontal, sometimes three-quarter profile, admiring herself non-stop. "What's the matter!" cried her father, "what are you doing there?" "I'm looking under the bed, under the furniture," she replied, as she straightened her hair. "There's no one there."

"Silly girl!" her father roared. "Come back quickly! Don't waste your time." "I'll come! I'll come!" she said. "In their broken kiln, they are always in a hurry and can't do anything." She hummed again: She took one last look in the mirror before going out, closing the door behind her. After a while Marius heard the bare feet of the two girls walking in the passage, and Jondrette calling to them: "Keep an eye out! One is by the wicket, and the other is on the corner of Little Bankers Street. Keep your eyes on the gate of this house. If you see anything, come back quickly! Take every step! You take a Get the key to the gate."

The big girl muttered: "In heavy snow, I have to go barefoot to watch!" "You'll have shiny satin boots tomorrow!" said the father. They descended the stairs, and a few seconds later the lower door slammed shut, indicating that they were outside. Now there were only Marius and Jondrette left in the house, and perhaps those mysterious figures whom Marius had glimpsed in the gloom behind the door of an empty room.