Page 792 - les-miserables

CHAPTER IX

THE MAN WITH THE BELL

He walked straight up to the man whom he saw in the
garden. He had taken in his hand the roll of silver which
was in the pocket of his waistcoat.
The man’s head was bent down, and he did not see him
approaching. In a few strides Jean Valjean stood beside
him.
Jean Valjean accosted him with the cry:—
‘One hundred francs!’
The man gave a start and raised his eyes.
‘You can earn a hundred francs,’ went on Jean Valjean, ‘if
you will grant me shelter for this night.’
The moon shone full upon Jean Valjean’s terrified coun-
tenance.
‘What! so it is you, Father Madeleine!’ said the man.
That name, thus pronounced, at that obscure hour, in
that unknown spot, by that strange man, made Jean Valjean
start back.
He had expected anything but that. The person who thus
addressed him was a bent and lame old man, dressed almost
like a peasant, who wore on his left knee a leather knee-cap,

792 Les Miserables