778 Les Miserables
Jean Valjean, with the energy of a supreme struggle,
crossed the street at one bound, entered the blind alley,
broke the latch of the little box with the point of his knife,
and an instant later he was beside Cosette once more. He
had a rope. These gloomy inventors of expedients work rap-
idly when they are fighting against fatality.
We have already explained that the lanterns had not
been lighted that night. The lantern in the Cul-de-Sac Gen-
rot was thus naturally extinct, like the rest; and one could
pass directly under it without even noticing that it was no
longer in its place.
Nevertheless, the hour, the place, the darkness, Jean
Valjean’s absorption, his singular gestures, his goings and
comings, all had begun to render Cosette uneasy. Any other
child than she would have given vent to loud shrieks long
before. She contented herself with plucking Jean Valjean by
the skirt of his coat. They could hear the sound of the pa-
trol’s approach ever more and more distinctly.
‘Father,’ said she, in a very low voice, ‘I am afraid. Who
is coming yonder?’
‘Hush!’ replied the unhappy man; ‘it is Madame Thenar-
d ier.’
Cosette shuddered. He added:—
‘Say nothing. Don’t interfere with me. If you cry out,
if you weep, the Thenardier is lying in wait for you. She is
coming to take you back.’
Then, without haste, but without making a useless move-
ment, with firm and curt precision, the more remarkable
at a moment when the patrol and Javert might come upon