Page 2426 - les-miserables

and his exertions must have been terrible, for it is impos-
sible to risk one’s life more completely; I don’t understand
how he could have come out of that alive.’
Marius’ chair approached still nearer. Thenardier took
advantage of this to draw a long breath. He went on:
‘Monsieur le Baron, a sewer is not the Champ de Mars.
One lacks everything there, even room. When two men
are there, they must meet. That is what happened. The man
domiciled there and the passer-by were forced to bid each
other good-day, greatly to the regret of both. The passer-by
said to the inhabitant:—‘You see what I have on my back, I
must get out, you have the key, give it to me.’ That convict
was a man of terrible strength. There was no way of refus-
ing. Nevertheless, the man who had the key parleyed, simply
to gain time. He examined the dead man, but he could see
nothing, except that the latter was young, well dressed, with
the air of being rich, and all disfigured with blood. While
talking, the man contrived to tear and pull off behind, with-
out the assassin perceiving it, a bit of the assassinated man’s
coat. A document for conviction, you understand; a means
of recovering the trace of things and of bringing home the
crime to the criminal. He put this document for conviction
in his pocket. After which he opened the grating, made the
man go out with his embarrassment on his back, closed the
grating again, and ran off, not caring to be mixed up with
the remainder of the adventure and above all, not wishing
to be present when the assassin threw the assassinated man
into the river. Now you comprehend. The man who was car-
rying the corpse was Jean Valjean; the one who had the key

2426 Les Miserables