Page 1332 - les-miserables

pared for some definite use, two heaps were visible, which
appeared to be, the one a heap of old iron, the other a heap
of ropes. All this would have caused the mind of a person
who knew nothing of what was in preparation, to waver be-
tween a very sinister and a very simple idea. The lair thus
lighted up more resembled a forge than a mouth of hell, but
Jondrette, in this light, had rather the air of a demon than
of a smith.
The heat of the brazier was so great, that the candle on
the table was melting on the side next the chafing-dish, and
was drooping over. An old dark-lantern of copper, worthy of
Diogenes turned Cartouche, stood on the chimney-piece.
The brazier, placed in the fireplace itself, beside the near-
ly extinct brands, sent its vapors up the chimney, and gave
out no odor.
The moon, entering through the four panes of the win-
dow, cast its whiteness into the crimson and flaming garret;
and to the poetic spirit of Marius, who was dreamy even in
the moment of action, it was like a thought of heaven min-
gled with the misshapen reveries of earth.
A breath of air which made its way in through the open
pane, helped to dissipate the smell of the charcoal and to
conceal the presence of the brazier.
The Jondrette lair was, if the reader recalls what we have
said of the Gorbeau building, admirably chosen to serve as
the theatre of a violent and sombre deed, and as the envelope
for a crime. It was the most retired chamber in the most iso-
lated house on the most deserted boulevard in Paris. If the
system of ambush and traps had not already existed, they

1332 Les Miserables