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ere tolerably low walls which abutted on gardens whose bounds adjoined the immense stretches of waste land。 Jean Valjean evidently must have fled in that direction。
The fact is; that had he penetrated a little further in the Cul…de…Sac Genrot; he would probably have done so and have been lost。
Javert explored these gardens and these waste stretches as though he had been hunting for a needle。
At daybreak he left two intelligent men on the outlook; and returned to the Prefecture of Police; as much ashamed as a police spy who had been captured by a robber might have been。
BOOK SIXTH。LE PETIT…PICPUS
CHAPTER I
NUMBER 62 RUE PETIT…PICPUS
Nothing; half a century ago; more resembled every other carriage gate than the carriage gate of Number 62 Rue Petit…Picpus。 This entrance; which usually stood ajar in the most inviting fashion; permitted a view of two things; neither of which have anything very funereal about them;a courtyard surrounded by walls hung with vines; and the face of a lounging porter。
Above the wall; at the bottom of the court; tall trees were visible。
When a ray of sunlight enlivened the courtyard; when a glass of wine cheered up the porter; it was difficult to pass Number 62 Little Picpus Street without carrying away a smiling impression of it。
Nevertheless; it was a sombre place of which one had had a glimpse。
The threshold smiled; the house prayed and wept。
If one succeeded in passing the porter; which was not easy; which was even nearly impossible for every one; for there was an open sesame! which it was necessary to know;if; the porter once passed; one entered a little vestibule on the right; on which opened a staircase shut in between two walls and so narrow that only one person could ascend it at a time; if one did not allow one's self to be alarmed by a daubing of canary yellow; with a dado of chocolate which clothed this staircase; if one ventured to ascend it; one crossed a first landing; then a second; and arrived on the first story at a corridor where the yellow wash and the chocolate…hued plinth pursued one with a peaceable persistency。 Staircase and corridor were lighted by two beautiful windows。 The corridor took a turn and became dark。
If one doubled this cape; one arrived a few paces further on; in front of a door which was all the more mysterious because it was not fastened。
If one opened it; one found one's self in a little chamber about six feet square; tiled; well…scrubbed; clean; cold; and hung with nankin paper with green flowers; at fifteen sous the roll。
A white; dull light fell from a large window; with tiny panes; on the left; which usurped the whole width of the room。
One gazed about; but saw no one; one listened; one heard neither a footstep nor a human murmur。 The walls were bare; the chamber was not furnished; there was not even a chair。
One looked again; and beheld on the wall facing the door a quadrangular hole; about a foot square; with a grating of interlacing iron bars; black; knotted; solid; which formed squares I had almost said meshesof less than an inch and a half in diagonal length。
The little green flowers of the nankin paper ran in a calm and orderly manner to those iron bars; without being startled or thrown into confusion by their funereal contact。 Supposing that a living being had been so wonderfully thin as to essay an entrance or an exit through the square hole; this grating would have prevented it。
It did not allow the passage of the body; but it did allow the passage of the eyes; that is to say; of the mind。 This seems to have occurred to them; for it had been re…enforced by a sheet of tin inserted in the wall a little in the rear; and pierced with a thousand holes more microscopic than the holes of a strainer。
At the bottom of this plate; an aperture had been pierced exactly similar to the orifice of a letter box。
A bit of tape attached to a bell…wire hung at the right of the grated opening。
If the tape was pulled; a bell rang; and one heard a voice very near at hand; which made one start。
〃Who is there?〃 the voice demanded。
It was a woman's voice; a gentle voice; so gentle that it was mournful。
Here; again; there was a magical word which it was necessary to know。 If one did not know it; the voice ceased; the wall became silent once more; as though the terrified obscurity of the sepulchre had been on the other side of it。
If one knew the password; the voice resumed; 〃Enter on the right。〃
One then perceived on the right; facing the window; a glass door surmounted by a frame glazed and painted gray。
On raising the latch and crossing the threshold; one experienced precisely the same impression as when one enters at the theatre into a grated baignoire; before the grating is lowered and the chandelier is lighted。 One was; in fact; in a sort of theatre…box; narrow; furnished with two old chairs; and a much…frayed straw matting; sparely illuminated by the vague light from the glass door; a regular box; with its front just of a height to lean upon; bearing a tablet of black wood。 This box was grated; only the grating of it was not of gilded wood; as at the opera; it was a monstrous lattice of iron bars; hideously interlaced and riveted to the wall by enormous fastenings which resembled clenched fists。
The first minutes passed; when one's eyes began to grow used to this cellar…like half…twilight; one tried to pass the grating; but got no further than six inches beyond it。
There he encountered a barrier of black shutters; re…enforced and fortified with transverse beams of wood painted a gingerbread yellow。
These shutters were divided into long; narrow slats; and they masked the entire length of the grating。 They were always closed。
At the expiration of a few moments one heard a voice proceeding from behind these shutters; and saying:
〃I am here。
What do you wish with me?〃
It was a beloved; sometimes an adored; voice。
No one was visible。 Hardly the sound of a breath was audible。
It seemed as though it were a spirit which had been evoked; that was speaking to you across the walls of the tomb。
If o