Page 114 - les-miserables

The stranger turned round and replied gently, ‘Ah! You
know?—‘
‘Yes.’
‘I was sent away from the other inn.’
‘And you are to be turned out of this one.’
‘Where would you have me go?’
‘Elsewhere.’
The man took his stick and his knapsack and departed.
As he went out, some children who had followed him
from the Cross of Colbas, and who seemed to be lying in
wait for him, threw stones at him. He retraced his steps in
anger, and threatened them with his stick: the children dis-
persed like a flock of birds.
He passed before the prison. At the door hung an iron
chain attached to a bell. He rang.
The wicket opened.
‘Turnkey,’ said he, removing his cap politely, ‘will you
have the kindness to admit me, and give me a lodging for
the night?’
A voice replied:—
‘The prison is not an inn. Get yourself arrested, and you
will be admitted.’
The wicket closed again.
He entered a little street in which there were many gar-
dens. Some of them are enclosed only by hedges, which
lends a cheerful aspect to the street. In the midst of these
gardens and hedges he caught sight of a small house of a
single story, the window of which was lighted up. He peered
through the pane as he had done at the public house. Within

114 Les Miserables