660 Les Miserables
she was in the habit of coming to this spring. She felt with
her left hand in the dark for a young oak which leaned over
the spring, and which usually served to support her, found
one of its branches, clung to it, bent down, and plunged the
bucket in the water. She was in a state of such violent excite-
ment that her strength was trebled. While thus bent over,
she did not notice that the pocket of her apron had emptied
itself into the spring. The fifteen-sou piece fell into the wa-
ter. Cosette neither saw nor heard it fall. She drew out the
bucket nearly full, and set it on the grass.
That done, she perceived that she was worn out with fa-
tigue. She would have liked to set out again at once, but the
effort required to fill the bucket had been such that she found
it impossible to take a step. She was forced to sit down. She
dropped on the grass, and remained crouching there.
She shut her eyes; then she opened them again, without
knowing why, but because she could not do otherwise. The
agitated water in the bucket beside her was describing cir-
cles which resembled tin serpents.
Overhead the sky was covered with vast black clouds,
which were like masses of smoke. The tragic mask of shad-
ow seemed to bend vaguely over the child.
Jupiter was setting in the depths.
The child stared with bewildered eyes at this great star,
with which she was unfamiliar, and which terrified her. The
planet was, in fact, very near the horizon and was traversing
a dense layer of mist which imparted to it a horrible ruddy
hue. The mist, gloomily empurpled, magnified the star. One
would have called it a luminous wound.