Page 658 - les-miserables

Cosette. ‘Well,’ said she, ‘it’s the Lark!’
In this manner Cosette traversed the labyrinth of tortu-
ous and deserted streets which terminate in the village of
Montfermeil on the side of Chelles. So long as she had the
houses or even the walls only on both sides of her path, she
proceeded with tolerable boldness. From time to time she
caught the flicker of a candle through the crack of a shut-
ter—this was light and life; there were people there, and it
reassured her. But in proportion as she advanced, her pace
slackened mechanically, as it were. When she had passed the
corner of the last house, Cosette paused. It had been hard
to advance further than the last stall; it became impossible
to proceed further than the last house. She set her buck-
et on the ground, thrust her hand into her hair, and began
slowly to scratch her head,—a gesture peculiar to children
when terrified and undecided what to do. It was no longer
Montfermeil; it was the open fields. Black and desert space
was before her. She gazed in despair at that darkness, where
there was no longer any one, where there were beasts, where
there were spectres, possibly. She took a good look, and
heard the beasts walking on the grass, and she distinctly
saw spectres moving in the trees. Then she seized her bucket
again; fear had lent her audacity. ‘Bah!’ said she; ‘I will tell
him that there was no more water!’ And she resolutely re-
entered Montfermeil.
Hardly had she gone a hundred paces when she paused
and began to scratch her head again. Now it was the Thenar-
dier who appeared to her, with her hideous, hyena mouth,
and wrath flashing in her eyes. The child cast a melancholy

658 Les Miserables