Page 2009 - les-miserables

CHAPTER VII

THE SITUATION BECOMES

AGGRAVATED

The daylight was increasing rapidly. Not a window was
opened, not a door stood ajar; it was the dawn but not the
awaking. The end of the Rue de la Chanvrerie, opposite the
barricade, had been evacuated by the troops, as we have
stated it seemed to be free, and presented itself to passers-
by with a sinister tranquillity. The Rue Saint-Denis was as
dumb as the avenue of Sphinxes at Thebes. Not a living be-
ing in the cross-roads, which gleamed white in the light of
the sun. Nothing is so mournful as this light in deserted
streets. Nothing was to be seen, but there was something
to be heard. A mysterious movement was going on at a cer-
tain distance. It was evident that the critical moment was
approaching. As on the previous evening, the sentinels had
come in; but this time all had come.
The barricade was stronger than on the occasion of the
first attack. Since the departure of the five, they had in-
creased its height still further.
On the advice of the sentinel who had examined the

2009