Page 954 - les-miserables

them something uncanny, which was the sinister bewilder-
ment inspired by the place.
‘Let us get out of here quickly,’ exclaimed Fauchelevent.
He fumbled in his pocket, and pulled out a gourd with
which he had provided himself.
‘But first, take a drop,’ said he.
The flask finished what the fresh air had begun, Jean
Valjean swallowed a mouthful of brandy, and regained full
possession of his faculties.
He got out of the coffin, and helped Fauchelevent to nail
on the lid again.
Three minutes later they were out of the grave.
Moreover, Fauchelevent was perfectly composed. He
took his time. The cemetery was closed. The arrival of the
grave-digger Gribier was not to be apprehended. That ‘con-
script’ was at home busily engaged in looking for his card,
and at some difficulty in finding it in his lodgings, since it
was in Fauchelevent’s pocket. Without a card, he could not
get back into the cemetery.
Fauchelevent took the shovel, and Jean Valjean the pick-
axe, and together they buried the empty coffin.
When the grave was full, Fauchelevent said to Jean
Valjean:—
‘Let us go. I will keep the shovel; do you carry off the
mattock.’
Night was falling.
Jean Valjean experienced rome difficulty in moving and
in walking. He had stiffened himself in that coffin, and had
become a little like a corpse. The rigidity of death had seized

954 Les Miserables