CHAPTER VIII.
THE TORN COAT-SKIRT.
In the midst of his annihilation a hand was laid on his shoulder, and alow voice said,--
"Half shares."
Some one in this shadow? As nothing so resembles a dream as despair,Jean Valjean fancied that he was dreaming. He had not heard a footstep.Was it possible? He raised his eyes, and a man was standing before him.This man was dressed in a blouse, his feet were naked, and he held hisshoes in his hand; he had evidently taken them off in order to be ableto reach Jean Valjean without letting his footsteps be heard. JeanValjean had not a moment's hesitation: however unexpected the meetingmight be, the man was known to him: it was Thénardier. Although, so tospeak, aroused with a start, Jean Valjean, accustomed to alarms andto unexpected blows which it is necessary to parry quickly, at onceregained possession of all his presence of mind. Besides, the situationcould not be worse; a certain degree of distress is not capable of anycrescendo, and Thénardier himself could not add any blackness to thisnight. There was a moment's expectation. Thénardier, raising his righthand to the level of his forehead, made a screen of it; then he drewhis eyebrows together with a wink, which, with a slight pinching of thelips, characterizes the sagacious attention of a man who is strivingto recognize another. He did not succeed. Jean Valjean, as we said,was turning his back to the light, and was besides so disfigured, sofilthy, and blood-stained that he could not have been recognized inbroad daylight. On the other hand, Thénardier, with his face lit up bythe light from the grating,--a cellar brightness, it is true,--lividbut precise in his lividness, leaped at once into Jean Valjean's eyes,to employ the energetic popular metaphor. This inequality of conditionssufficed to insure some advantage to Jean Valjean in the mysteriousduel which was about to begin between the two situations and the twomen. The meeting took place between Jean Valjean masked and Thénardierunmasked. Jean Valjean at once perceived that Thénardier did notrecognize him; and they looked at each other silently in this gloom, asif taking each other's measure. Thénardier was the first to break thesilence.
"How do you mean to get out?"
Jean Valjean not replying, Thénardier continued:
"It is impossible to pick the lock: and yet you must get out of here."
"That is true," said Jean Valjean.
"Well, then, half shares."
"What do you mean?"
"You have killed the man; very good, and I have the key."
Thénardier pointed to Marius, and continued,--
"I do not know you, but you must be a friend, and I wish to help you."
Jean Valjean began to understand. Thénardier took him for an assassin.The latter continued,--
"Listen, mate; you did not kill this man without looking to see what hehad in his pockets. Give me my half and I open the gate."
And half drawing a heavy key from under his ragged blouse, he added,--
"Would you like to see how the key to liberty is made? Look here."
Jean Valjean was so dazed that he doubted whether what he saw was real.It was Providence appearing in a horrible form, and the good angelissuing from the ground in the shape of Thénardier. The latter thrusthis hand into a wide pocket hidden under his blouse, drew out a rope,and handed it to Jean Valjean.
"There," he said, "I give you the rope into the bargain."
"What am I to do with the rope?"
"You also want a stone, but you will find that outside, as there is aheap of them."
"What am I to do with a stone?"
"Why, you ass, as you are going to throw the stiff into the river, youwant a rope and a stone, or else the body will float on the water."
Jean Valjean took the rope mechanically, and Thénardier snapped hisfingers as if a sudden idea had occurred to him.
"Hilloh, mate! how did you manage to get through that slough? I didnot dare venture into it. Peuh! you do not smell pleasant."
After a pause he added,--
"I ask you questions, but you are right not to answer: it is anapprenticeship for the examining magistrate's ugly quarter of an hour.And then, by not speaking at all a man runs no risk of speaking tooloud. No matter, though I cannot see your face and do not know yourname, you would do wrong in supposing that I do not know who you areand what you want. I know all about it: you have rather split thisgentleman, and now want to get rid of him somewhere. You prefer theriver, that great nonsense-hider, and I will help you out of thehobble. It is my delight to aid a good fellow when in trouble."
While commending Jean Valjean for his silence it was plain that he wastrying to make him speak. He pushed his shoulder, so as to be able tosee his profile, and exclaimed, though without raising the pitch of hisvoice,--
"Talking of the slough, you are a precious ass. Why did you not throwthe man into it?"
Jean Valjean preserved silence. Thénardier continued, raising his ragof a cravat to the Adam's apple,--a gesture which completes the capableair of a serious man.
"Really, you may have acted sensibly, for the workmen who will cometo-morrow to stop up the hole would certainly have found the swell,and your trail would be followed up. Some one has passed through thesewer. Who? How did he get out? Was he seen to do so? The police arefull of sense; the drain is a traitor, and denounces you. Such a findis a rarity; it attracts attention; for few people employ the sewer fortheir little business, while the river belongs to everybody, and is thereal grave. At the end of a month your man is fished up at the nets ofSt. Cloud. Well, who troubles himself about that? It's carrion, that'sall. Who killed the man? Paris. And justice makes no inquiries. Youacted wisely."
The more loquacious Thénardier became, the more silent Jean Valjeanwas. Thénardier shook his shoulder again.
"And now, let's settle our business. You have Been my key, so show meyour money."
Thénardier was haggard, firm, slightly menacing, but remarkablyfriendly. There was one strange fact: Thénardier's manner was notsimple; he did not appear entirely at his ease. While not affectingany mysterious air, he spoke in a low voice. From time to time he laidhis finger on his lip, and muttered "Chut!" It was difficult to guesswhy, for there were only themselves present. Jean Valjean thought thatother bandits were probably hidden in some corner no great distanceoff, and that Thénardier was not anxious to share with them. The lattercontinued,--
"Now for a finish. How much had the swell about him?"
Jean Valjean felt in his pockets. It was, as will be remembered, alwayshis rule to have money about him for the gloomy life of expedients towhich he was condemned rendered it a law for him. This time, however,he was unprovided. In putting on upon the previous evening his NationalGuard uniform, he forgot, mournfully absorbed as he was, to take outhis pocket-book, and he had only some change in his waistcoat-pocket.He turned out his pocket, which was saturated with slime, and laid onthe banquette a louis d'or, two five-franc pieces, and five or sixdouble sous. Thénardier thrust out his lower lip with a significanttwist of the neck.
"You did not kill him for much," he said.
He began most familiarly feeling in Jean Valjean and Marius's pockets,and Jean Valjean, who was most anxious to keep his back to the light,allowed him to do so. While feeling in Marius's coat, Thénardier, withthe dexterity of a conjurer, managed to tear off, without Jean Valjeanperceiving the fact, a strip, which he concealed under his blouse;probably thinking that this piece of cloth might help him to recognizehereafter the assassinated man and the assassin. However, he found nomore than the thirty francs.
"It is true," he said; "one with the other, you have no more than that."
And forgetting his phrase, half-shares, he took all. He hesitated alittle at the double sous, but on reflection he took them too, whilegrumbling, "I don't care, it is killing people too cheaply."
This done, he again took the key from under his blouse.
"Now, my friend, you must be off. It is here as at the fairs; you paywhen you go out. You have paid, so you can go."
And he began laughing. We may be permi
tted to doubt whether he had thepure and disinterested intention of saving an assassin, when he gave astranger the help of this key, and allowed any one but himself to passthrough this gate. Thénardier helped Jean Valjean to replace Marius onhis back, and then proceeded to the grating on the tips of his nakedfeet. After making Jean Valjean a sign to follow him, he placed hisfinger on his lip, and remained for some seconds as if in suspense; butwhen the inspection was over he put the key in the lock. The bolt slid,and the gate turned on its hinges without either grinding or creaking.It was plain that this grating and these hinges, carefully oiled,opened more frequently than might be supposed. This smoothness wasill-omened; it spoke of furtive comings and goings, of the mysteriousentrances and exits of night-men, and the crafty foot-fall of crime.The sewer was evidently an accomplice of some dark band, and thistaciturn grating was a receiver. Thénardier held the door ajar, leftjust room for Jean Valjean to pass, relocked the gate, and plungedback into the darkness, making no more noise than a breath; he seemedto walk with the velvety pads of a tiger. A moment later this hideousprovidence had disappeared, and Jean Valjean was outside.