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CHAPTER IX

EMPLOYMENT OF THE OLD

TALENTS OF A POACHER

AND THAT INFALLIBLE

MARKSMANSHIP WHICH

INFLUENCED THE

CONDEMNATION OF 1796

Opinions were exchanged in the barricade. The firing
from the gun was about to begin again. Against that grape-
shot, they could not hold out a quarter of an hour longer. It
was absolutely necessary to deaden the blows.
Enjolras issued this command:
‘We must place a mattress there.’
‘We have none,’ said Combeferre, ‘the wounded are ly-
ing on them.’
Jean Valjean, who was seated apart on a stone post, at
the corner of the tavern, with his gun between his knees,

2020 Les Miserables