CHAPTER XIII--SOLUS CUM SOLO, IN LOCO REMOTO, NON COGITABUNTUR ORAREPATER NOSTER

  Marius, dreamer as he was, was, as we have said, firm and energetic bynature. His habits of solitary meditation, while they had developed inhim sympathy and compassion, had, perhaps, diminished the faculty forirritation, but had left intact the power of waxing indignant; he hadthe kindliness of a brahmin, and the severity of a judge; he took pityupon a toad, but he crushed a viper. Now, it was into a hole of vipersthat his glance had just been directed, it was a nest of monsters thathe had beneath his eyes.

  "These wretches must be stamped upon," said he.

  Not one of the enigmas which he had hoped to see solved had beenelucidated; on the contrary, all of them had been rendered more dense,if anything; he knew nothing more about the beautiful maiden of theLuxembourg and the man whom he called M. Leblanc, except that Jondrettewas acquainted with them. Athwart the mysterious words which had beenuttered, the only thing of which he caught a distinct glimpse was thefact that an ambush was in course of preparation, a dark but terribletrap; that both of them were incurring great danger, she probably, herfather certainly; that they must be saved; that the hideous plots of theJondrettes must be thwarted, and the web of these spiders broken.

  He scanned the female Jondrette for a moment. She had pulled an oldsheet-iron stove from a corner, and she was rummaging among the old heapof iron.

  He descended from the commode as softly as possible, taking care not tomake the least noise. Amid his terror as to what was in preparation, andin the horror with which the Jondrettes had inspired him, he experienceda sort of joy at the idea that it might be granted to him perhaps torender a service to the one whom he loved.

  But how was it to be done? How warn the persons threatened? He did notknow their address. They had reappeared for an instant before his eyes,and had then plunged back again into the immense depths of Paris. Shouldhe wait for M. Leblanc at the door that evening at six o'clock, at themoment of his arrival, and warn him of the trap? But Jondrette and hismen would see him on the watch, the spot was lonely, they were strongerthan he, they would devise means to seize him or to get him away, andthe man whom Marius was anxious to save would be lost. One o'clock hadjust struck, the trap was to be sprung at six. Marius had five hoursbefore him.

  There was but one thing to be done.

  He put on his decent coat, knotted a silk handkerchief round his neck,took his hat, and went out, without making any more noise than if he hadbeen treading on moss with bare feet.

  Moreover, the Jondrette woman continued to rummage among her old iron.

  Once outside of the house, he made for the Rue du Petit-Banquier.

  He had almost reached the middle of this street, near a very low wallwhich a man can easily step over at certain points, and which abuts ona waste space, and was walking slowly, in consequence of his preoccupiedcondition, and the snow deadened the sound of his steps; all at once heheard voices talking very close by. He turned his head, the street wasdeserted, there was not a soul in it, it was broad daylight, and yet hedistinctly heard voices.

  It occurred to him to glance over the wall which he was skirting.

  There, in fact, sat two men, flat on the snow, with their backs againstthe wall, talking together in subdued tones.

  These two persons were strangers to him; one was a bearded man in ablouse, and the other a long-haired individual in rags. The bearded manhad on a fez, the other's head was bare, and the snow had lodged in hishair.

  By thrusting his head over the wall, Marius could hear their remarks.

  The hairy one jogged the other man's elbow and said:--

  "--With the assistance of Patron-Minette, it can't fail."

  "Do you think so?" said the bearded man.

  And the long-haired one began again:--

  "It's as good as a warrant for each one, of five hundred balls, and theworst that can happen is five years, six years, ten years at the most!"

  The other replied with some hesitation, and shivering beneath his fez:--

  "That's a real thing. You can't go against such things."

  "I tell you that the affair can't go wrong," resumed the long-hairedman. "Father What's-his-name's team will be already harnessed."

  Then they began to discuss a melodrama that they had seen on thepreceding evening at the Gaîté Theatre.

  Marius went his way.

  It seemed to him that the mysterious words of these men, so strangelyhidden behind that wall, and crouching in the snow, could not but bearsome relation to Jondrette's abominable projects. That must be _theaffair_.

  He directed his course towards the faubourg Saint-Marceau and asked atthe first shop he came to where he could find a commissary of police.

  He was directed to Rue de Pontoise, No. 14.

  Thither Marius betook himself.

  As he passed a baker's shop, he bought a two-penny roll, and ate it,foreseeing that he should not dine.

  On the way, he rendered justice to Providence. He reflected that had henot given his five francs to the Jondrette girl in the morning, hewould have followed M. Leblanc's fiacre, and consequently have remainedignorant of everything, and that there would have been no obstacle tothe trap of the Jondrettes and that M. Leblanc would have been lost, andhis daughter with him, no doubt.