Page 657 - les-miserables

CHAPTER V

THE LITTLE ONE

ALL ALONE

As the Thenardier hostelry was in that part of the village
which is near the church, it was to the spring in the forest in
the direction of Chelles that Cosette was obliged to go for
her water.
She did not glance at the display of a single other mer-
chant. So long as she was in Boulanger Lane and in the
neighborhood of the church, the lighted stalls illuminated
the road; but soon the last light from the last stall vanished.
The poor child found herself in the dark. She plunged into
it. Only, as a certain emotion overcame her, she made as
much motion as possible with the handle of the bucket as
she walked along. This made a noise which afforded her
company.
The further she went, the denser the darkness became.
There was no one in the streets. However, she did encoun-
ter a woman, who turned around on seeing her, and stood
still, muttering between her teeth: ‘Where can that child be
going? Is it a werewolf child?’ Then the woman recognized

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