Page 1474 - les-miserables

all bent over and with tottering footsteps, to the well, but
when he had grasped the chain, he could not even draw it
sufficiently to unhook it. Then he turned round and cast a
glance of anguish toward heaven which was becoming stud-
ded with stars.
The evening had that serenity which overwhelms the
troubles of man beneath an indescribably mournful and
eternal joy. The night promised to be as arid as the day had
been.
‘Stars everywhere!’ thought the old man; ‘not the tiniest
cloud! Not a drop of water!’
And his head, which had been upraised for a moment,
fell back upon his breast.
He raised it again, and once more looked at the sky,
murmuring:—
‘A tear of dew! A little pity!’
He tried again to unhook the chain of the well, and could
not.
At that moment, he heard a voice saying:—
‘Father Mabeuf, would you like to have me water your
garden for you?’
At the same time, a noise as of a wild animal passing be-
came audible in the hedge, and he beheld emerging from
the shrubbery a sort of tall, slender girl, who drew herself up
in front of him and stared boldly at him. She had less the air
of a human being than of a form which had just blossomed
forth from the twilight.
Before Father Mabeuf, who was easily terrified, and who
was, as we have said, quick to take alarm, was able to reply

1474 Les Miserables