2030 Les Miserables
Courfeyrac called the grape-shot to order for the little effect
which it produced, and said to the cannon:
‘You are growing diffuse, my good fellow.’
One gets puzzled in battle, as at a ball. It is probable that this
silence on the part of the redoubt began to render the besieg-
ers uneasy, and to make them fear some unexpected incident,
and that they felt the necessity of getting a clear view behind
that heap of paving-stones, and of knowing what was going on
behind that impassable wall which received blows without re-
torting. The insurgents suddenly perceived a helmet glittering
in the sun on a neighboring roof. A fireman had placed his back
against a tall chimney, and seemed to be acting as sentinel. His
glance fell directly down into the barricade.
‘There’s an embarrassing watcher,’ said Enjolras.
Jean Valjean had returned Enjolras’ rifle, but he had his own
gun.
Without saying a word, he took aim at the fireman, and,
a second later, the helmet, smashed by a bullet, rattled noisily
into the street. The terrified soldier made haste to disappear. A
second observer took his place. This one was an officer. Jean
Valjean, who had re-loaded his gun, took aim at the newcomer
and sent the officer’s casque to join the soldier’s. The officer did
not persist, and retired speedily. This time the warning was un-
derstood. No one made his appearance thereafter on that roof;
and the idea of spying on the barricade was abandoned.
‘Why did you not kill the man?’ Bossuet asked Jean Valjean.
Jean Valjean made no reply.