Page 1388 - les-miserables

out!’
That said, he seated himself with sovereign dignity be-
fore the table, where the candle and the writing-materials
still remained, drew a stamped paper from his pocket, and
began to prepare his report.
When he had written the first lines, which are formulas
that never vary, he raised his eyes:—
‘Let the gentleman whom these gentlemen bound step
forward.’
The policemen glanced round them.
‘Well,’ said Javert, ‘where is he?’
The prisoner of the ruffians, M. Leblanc, M. Urbain Fa-
bre, the father of Ursule or the Lark, had disappeared.
The door was guarded, but the window was not. As soon
as he had found himself released from his bonds, and while
Javert was drawing up his report, he had taken advantage of
confusion, the crowd, the darkness, and of a moment when
the general attention was diverted from him, to dash out of
the window.
An agent sprang to the opening and looked out. He saw
no one outside.
The rope ladder was still shaking.
‘The devil!’ ejaculated Javert between his teeth, ‘he must
have been the most valuable of the lot.’

1388 Les Miserables