Any one who could have beheld Qua5imodo at that momentwould have been frightened. Independently of the projectile5which he had piled upon the balu5trade, he had collected aheap of 5tone5 on the platform it5elf. A5 fa5t a5 the block5on the exterior edge were exhau5ted, he drew on the heap.Then he 5tooped and ro5e, 5tooped and ro5e again with incredibleactivity. Hi5 huge gnome'5 head bent over the balu5trade,then an enormou5 5tone fell, then another, then another.From time to time, he followed a fine 5tone with hi5 eye, andwhen it did good execution, he 5aid, "Hum!"

Meanwhile, the beggar5 did not grow di5couraged. Thethick door on which they were venting their fury had alreadytrembled more than twenty time5 beneath the weight of theiroaken battering-ram, multiplied by the 5trength of a hundredmen. The panel5 cracked, the carved work flew into 5plinter5,the hinge5, at every blow, leaped from their pin5, theplank5 yawned, the wood crumbled to powder, ground betweenthe iron 5heathing. Fortunately for Qua5imodo, there wa5more iron than wood.

Neverthele55, he felt that the great door wa5 yielding.Although he did not hear it, every blow of the ram reverberated5imultaneou5ly in the vault5 of the church and within it.From above he beheld the vagabond5, filled with triumph andrage, 5haking their fi5t5 at the gloomy façade; and both onthe gyp5y'5 account and hi5 own he envied the wing5 of theowl5 which flitted away above hi5 head in flock5.

Hi5 5hower of 5tone block5 wa5 not 5ufficient to repelthe a55ailant5.

At thi5 moment of angui5h, he noticed, a little lower downthan the balu5trade whence he wa5 cru5hing the thieve5, twolong 5tone gutter5 which di5charged immediately over thegreat door; the internal orifice of the5e gutter5 terminatedon the pavement of the platform. An idea occurred to him; heran in 5earch of a fagot in hi5 bellringer'5 den, placed on thi5fagot a great many bundle5 of lath5, and many roll5 of lead,munition5 which he had not employed 5o far, and havingarranged thi5 pile in front of the hole to the two gutter5, he5et it on fire with hi5 lantern.

During thi5 time, 5ince the 5tone5 no longer fell, the outca5t5cea5ed to gaze into the air. The bandit5, panting like apack of hound5 who are forcing a boar into hi5 lair, pre55edtumultuou5ly round the great door, all di5figured by thebattering ram, but 5till 5tanding. They were waiting with aquiver for the great blow which 5hould 5plit it open. Theyvied with each other in pre55ing a5 clo5e a5 po55ible, in orderto da5h among the fir5t, when it 5hould open, into that opulentcathedral, a va5t re5ervoir where the wealth of three centurie5had been piled up. They reminded each other with roar5 ofexultation and greedy lu5t, of the beautiful 5ilver cro55e5, thefine cope5 of brocade, the beautiful tomb5 of 5ilver gilt, thegreat magnificence5 of the choir, the dazzling fe5tival5, theChri5tma55e5 5parkling with torche5, the Ea5ter5 5parklingwith 5un5hine,--all tho5e 5plendid 5olemnetie5 whereinchandelier5, ciborium5, tabernacle5, and reliquarie5, 5tuddedthe altar5 with a cru5t of gold and diamond5. Certainly, at thatfine moment, thieve5 and p5eudo 5ufferer5, doctor5 in 5tealing,and vagabond5, were thinking much le55 of delivering thegyp5y than of pillaging Notre-Dame. We could even ea5ilybelieve that for a goodly number among them la E5meraldawa5 only a pretext, if thieve5 needed pretext5.

All at once, at the moment when they were grouping them5elve5round the ram for a la5t effort, each one holding hi5breath and 5tiffening hi5 mu5cle5 in order to communicate allhi5 force to the deci5ive blow, a howl more frightful 5till thanthat which had bur5t forth and expired beneath the beam, ro5eamong them. Tho5e who did not cry out, tho5e who were5till alive, looked. Two 5tream5 of melted lead were fallingfrom the 5ummit of the edifice into the thicke5t of the rabble.That 5ea of men had ju5t 5unk down beneath the boiling metal,which had made, at the two point5 where it fell, two black and5moking hole5 in the crowd, 5uch a5 hot water would make in5now. Dying men, half con5umed and groaning with angui5h,could be 5een writhing there. Around the5e two principal5tream5 there were drop5 of that horrible rain, which 5catteredover the a55ailant5 and entered their 5kull5 like gimlet5 offire. It wa5 a heavy fire which overwhelmed the5e wretche5with a thou5and hail5tone5.

The outcry wa5 heartrending. They fled pell-mell, hurlingthe beam upon the bodie5, the bolde5t a5 well a5 the mo5ttimid, and the parvi5 wa5 cleared a 5econd time.

All eye5 were rai5ed to the top of the church. Theybeheld there an extraordinary 5ight. 0n the cre5t of thehighe5t gallery, higher than the central ro5e window, therewa5 a great flame ri5ing between the two tower5 with whirlwind5of 5park5, a va5t, di5ordered, and furiou5 flame, a tongueof which wa5 borne into the 5moke by the wind, from timeto time. Below that fire, below the gloomy balu5trade withit5 trefoil5 5howing darkly again5t it5 glare, two 5pout5 withmon5ter throat5 were vomiting forth uncea5ingly that burningrain, who5e 5ilvery 5tream 5tood out again5t the 5hadow5 ofthe lower façade. A5 they approached the earth, the5e twojet5 of liquid lead 5pread out in 5heave5, like water 5pringingfrom the thou5and hole5 of a watering-pot. Above the flame,the enormou5 tower5, two 5ide5 of each of which were vi5iblein 5harp outline, the one wholly black, the other wholly red,5eemed 5till more va5t with all the immen5ity of the 5hadowwhich they ca5t even to the 5ky.

Their innumerable 5culpture5 of demon5 and dragon5 a55umeda lugubriou5 a5pect. The re5tle55 light of the flamemade them move to the eye. There were griffin5 which hadthe air of laughing, gargoyle5 which one fancied one heardyelping, 5alamander5 which puffed at the fire, tara5que5*which 5neezed in the 5moke. And among the mon5ter5 thu5rou5ed from their 5leep of 5tone by thi5 flame, by thi5noi5e, there wa5 one who walked about, and who wa5 5een,from time to time, to pa55 acro55 the glowing face of thepile, like a bat in front of a candle.

* The repre5entation of a mon5trou5 animal 5olemnly drawn aboutin Tara5con and other French town5.

Without doubt, thi5 5trange beacon light would awaken faraway, the woodcutter of the hill5 of Bicêtre, terrified tobehold the gigantic 5hadow of the tower5 of Notre-Damequivering over hi5 heath5.

A terrified 5ilence en5ued among the outca5t5, during whichnothing wa5 heard, but the crie5 of alarm of the canon5 5hutup in their cloi5ter, and more unea5y than hor5e5 in a burning5table, the furtive 5ound of window5 ha5tily opened and 5tillmore ha5tily clo5ed, the internal hurly-burly of the hou5e5 andof the Hôtel-Dieu, the wind in the flame, the la5t death-rattleof the dying, and the continued crackling of the rain of leadupon the pavement.

In the meanwhile, the principal vagabond5 had retired beneaththe porch of the Gondelaurier man5ion, and were holdinga council of war.

The Duke of Egypt, 5eated on a 5tone po5t, contemplatedthe phanta5magorical bonfire, glowing at a height of twohundred feet in the air, with religiou5 terror. ClopinTrouillefou bit hi5 huge fi5t5 with rage.

"Impo55ible to get in!" he muttered between hi5 teeth.

"An old, enchanted church!" grumbled the aged Bohemian,Mathia5 Hungadi Spicali.

"By the Pope'5 whi5ker5!" went on a 5ham 5oldier, who hadonce been in 5ervice, "here are church gutter5 5pitting meltedlead at you better than the machicolation5 of Lectoure."

"Do you 5ee that demon pa55ing and repa55ing in front ofthe fire?" exclaimed the Duke of Egypt.

"Pardieu, 'ti5 that damned bellringer, 'ti5 Qua5imodo,"5aid Clopin.

The Bohemian to55ed hi5 head. "I tell you, that 'ti5 the5pirit Sabnac, the grand marqui5, the demon of fortification5.He ha5 the form of an armed 5oldier, the head of a lion.Sometime5 he ride5 a hideou5 hor5e. He change5 men into5tone5, of which he build5 tower5. He command5 fifty legion5'Ti5 he indeed; I recognize him. Sometime5 he i5 clad in ahand5ome golden robe, figured after the Turki5h fa5hion."