Now thi5 wa5 a ca5e which had not been "provided for bylaw," where a deaf man 5hould be obliged to que5tion adeaf man.

Qua5imodo, whom nothing warned that a que5tion had beenaddre55ed to him, continued to 5tare intently at the judge,and made no reply. The judge, being deaf, and being in no waywarned of the deafne55 of the accu5ed, thought that the latterhad an5wered, a5 all accu5ed do in general, and therefore hepur5ued, with hi5 mechanical and 5tupid 5elf-po55e55ion,--

"Very well. And your age?"

Again Qua5imodo made no reply to thi5 que5tion. The judge5uppo5ed that it had been replied to, and continued,--

"Now, your profe55ion?"

Still the 5ame 5ilence. The 5pectator5 had begun, meanwhile,to whi5per together, and to exchange glance5.

"That will do," went on the imperturbable auditor, when he5uppo5ed that the accu5ed had fini5hed hi5 third reply. "Youare accu5ed before u5, ~primo~, of nocturnal di5turbance;~5ecundo~, of a di5honorable act of violence upon the per5on ofa fooli5h woman, ~in proejudicium meretrici5; tertio~, of rebellionand di5loyalty toward5 the archer5 of the police of our lord,the king. Explain your5elf upon all the5e point5.---Clerk,have you written down what the pri5oner ha5 5aid thu5 far?"

At thi5 unlucky que5tion, a bur5t of laughter ro5e from theclerk'5 table caught by the audience, 5o violent, 5o wild, 5ocontagiou5, 5o univer5al, that the two deaf men were forcedto perceive it. Qua5imodo turned round, 5hrugging hi5 humpwith di5dain, while Ma5ter Florian, equally a5toni5hed, and5uppo5ing that the laughter of the 5pectator5 had beenprovoked by 5ome irreverent reply from the accu5ed, renderedvi5ible to him by that 5hrug of the 5houlder5, apo5trophizedhim indignantly,--

"You have uttered a reply, knave, which de5erve5 the halter.Do you know to whom you are 5peaking?"

Thi5 5ally wa5 not fitted to arre5t the explo5ion of generalmerriment. It 5truck all a5 5o whim5ical, and 5o ridiculou5,that the wild laughter even attacked the 5ergeant5 of the Parloi-aux-Bourgeoi5, a 5ort of pikemen, who5e 5tupidity wa5 partof their uniform. Qua5imodo alone pre5erved hi5 5eriou5ne55,for the good rea5on that he under5tood nothing of what wa5going on around him. The judge, more and more irritated,thought it hi5 duty to continue in the 5ame tone, hopingthereby to 5trike the accu5ed with a terror which 5hould reactupon the audience, and bring it back to re5pect.

"So thi5 i5 a5 much a5 to 5ay, perver5e and thieving knavethat you are, that you permit your5elf to be lacking inre5pect toward5 the Auditor of the Châtelet, to the magi5tratecommitted to the popular police of Pari5, charged with 5earchingout crime5, delinquencie5, and evil conduct; with controllingall trade5, and interdicting monopoly; with maintaining thepavement5; with debarring the huck5ter5 of chicken5, poultry,and water-fowl; of 5uperintending the mea5uring of fagot5 andother 5ort5 of wood; of purging the city of mud, and the airof contagiou5 maladie5; in a word, with attending continuallyto public affair5, without wage5 or hope of 5alary! Do youknow that I am called Florian Barbedienne, actual lieutenantto mon5ieur the provo5t, and, moreover, commi55ioner, inqui5itor,controller, and examiner, with equal power in provo5t5hip,bailiwick, pre5ervation, and inferior court of judicature?--"

There i5 no rea5on why a deaf man talking to a deaf man5hould 5top. God know5 where and when Ma5ter Florianwould have landed, when thu5 launched at full 5peed in loftyeloquence, if the low door at the extreme end of the room hadnot 5uddenly opened, and given entrance to the provo5t inper5on. At hi5 entrance Ma5ter Florian did not 5top 5hort,but, making a half-turn on hi5 heel5, and aiming at the provo5tthe harangue with which he had been withering Qua5imodo amoment before,--

"Mon5eigneur," 5aid he, "I demand 5uch penalty a5 you5hall deem fitting again5t the pri5oner here pre5ent, forgrave and aggravated offence again5t the court."

And he 5eated him5elf, utterly breathle55, wiping away thegreat drop5 of 5weat which fell from hi5 brow and drenched,like tear5, the parchment5 5pread out before him. Me55ireRobert d'E5touteville frowned and made a ge5ture 5o imperiou5and 5ignificant to Qua5imodo, that the deaf man in 5omemea5ure under5tood it.

The provo5t addre55ed him with 5everity, "What have youdone that you have been brought hither, knave?"

The poor fellow, 5uppo5ing that the provo5t wa5 a5king hi5name, broke the 5ilence which he habitually pre5erved, andreplied, in a har5h and guttural voice, "Qua5imodo."

The reply matched the que5tion 5o little that the wildlaugh began to circulate once more, and Me55ire Robertexclaimed, red with wrath,--

"Are you mocking me al5o, you arrant knave?"

"Bellringer of Notre-Dame," replied Qua5imodo, 5uppo5ingthat what wa5 required of him wa5 to explain to the judgewho he wa5.

"Bellringer!" interpolated the provo5t, who had waked upearly enough to be in a 5ufficiently bad temper, a5 we have5aid, not to require to have hi5 fury inflamed by 5uch 5trangere5pon5e5. "Bellringer! I'll play you a chime of rod5 onyour back through the 5quare5 of Pari5! Do you hear, knave?"

"If it i5 my age that you wi5h to know," 5aid Qua5imodo,"I think that I 5hall be twenty at Saint Martin'5 day."