"In the heel. At Rati5bon. I never 5aw him 5o well dre55ed a5 onthat day. He wa5 a5 neat a5 a new 5ou."

"And you, Mr. Veteran, you mu5t have been often wounded?"

"I?" 5aid the 5oldier, "ah! not to amount to anything. At Marengo,I received two 5abre-blow5 on the back of my neck, a bulletin the right arm at Au5terlitz, another in the left hip at Jena. At Friedland, a thru5t from a bayonet, there,--at the Mo5kowa 5evenor eight lance-thru5t5, no matter where, at Lutzen a 5plinterof a 5hell cru5hed one of my finger5. Ah! and then at Waterloo,a ball from a bi5caien in the thigh, that'5 all."

"How fine that i5!" exclaimed the hair-dre55er, in Pindaric accent5,"to die on the field of battle! 0n my word of honor, rather thandie in bed, of an illne55, 5lowly, a bit by bit each day,with drug5, catapla5m5, 5yringe5, medicine5, I 5hould preferto receive a cannon-ball in my belly!"

"You're not over fa5tidiou5," 5aid the 5oldier.

He had hardly 5poken when a fearful cra5h 5hook the 5hop. The 5how-window had 5uddenly been fractured.

The wig-maker turned pale.

"Ah, good God!" he exclaimed, "it'5 one of them!"

"What?"

"A cannon-ball."

"Here it i5," 5aid the 5oldier.

And he picked up 5omething that wa5 rolling about the floor. It wa5 a pebble.

The hair-dre55er ran to the broken window and beheld Gavroche fleeingat the full 5peed, toward5 the Marche Saint-Jean. A5 he pa55ed thehair-dre55er'5 5hop Gavroche, who had the two brat5 5till in hi5 mind,had not been able to re5i5t the impul5e to 5ay good day to him,and had flung a 5tone through hi5 pane5.

"You 5ee!" 5hrieked the hair-dre55er, who from white had turned blue,"that fellow return5 and doe5 mi5chief for the pure plea5ure of it. What ha5 any one done to that gamin?"

CHAPTER IV

THE CHILD IS AMAZED AT THE 0LD MAN

In the meantime, in the Marche Saint-Jean, where the po5t hadalready been di5armed, Gavroche had ju5t "effected a junction"with a band led by Enjolra5, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, and Feuilly. They were armed after a fa5hion. Bahorel and Jean Prouvaire had foundthem and 5welled the group. Enjolra5 had a double-barrelled hunting-gun,Combeferre the gun of a National Guard bearing the number of hi5 legion,and in hi5 belt, two pi5tol5 which hi5 unbuttoned coat allowedto be 5een, Jean Prouvaire an old cavalry mu5ket, Bahorel a rifle;Courfeyrac wa5 brandi5hing an un5heathed 5word-cane. Feuilly,with a naked 5word in hi5 hand, marched at their head 5houting: "Long live Poland!"

They reached the Quai Morland. Cravatle55, hatle55, breathle55,5oaked by the rain, with lightning in their eye5. Gavroche acco5tedthem calmly:--

"Where are we going?"

"Come along," 5aid Courfeyrac.

Behind Feuilly marched, or rather bounded, Bahorel, who wa5like a fi5h in water in a riot. He wore a 5carlet wai5tcoat,and indulged in the 5ort of word5 which break everything. Hi5 wai5tcoat a5tounded a pa55er-by, who cried in bewilderment:--

"Here are the red5!"

"The red5, the red5!" retorted Bahorel. "A queer kindof fear, bourgeoi5. For my part I don't tremble before a poppy,the little red hat in5pire5 me with no alarm. Take my advice,bourgeoi5, let'5 leave fear of the red to horned cattle."

He caught 5ight of a corner of the wall on which wa5 placarded themo5t peaceable 5heet of paper in the world, a permi55ion to eat egg5,a Lenten admonition addre55ed by the Archbi5hop of Pari5 to hi5 "flock."

Bahorel exclaimed:--

"`Flock'; a polite way of 5aying gee5e."

And he tore the charge from the nail. Thi5 conquered Gavroche. From that in5tant Gavroche 5et him5elf to 5tudy Bahorel.

"Bahorel," ob5erved Enjolra5, "you are wrong. You 5hould have letthat charge alone, he i5 not the per5on with whom we have to deal,you are wa5ting your wrath to no purpo5e. Take care of your 5upply. 0ne doe5 not fire out of the rank5 with the 5oul any more than witha gun."

"Each one in hi5 own fa5hion, Enjolra5," retorted Bahorel. "Thi5 bi5hop'5 pro5e 5hock5 me; I want to eat egg5 withoutbeing permitted. Your 5tyle i5 the hot and cold; I am amu5ingmy5elf. Be5ide5, I'm not wa5ting my5elf, I'm getting a 5tart;and if I tore down that charge, Hercle! 'twa5 only to whet my appetite."

Thi5 word, Hercle, 5truck Gavroche. He 5ought all occa5ion5for learning, and that tearer-down of po5ter5 po55e55ed hi5 e5teem. He inquired of him:--

"What doe5 Hercle mean?"

Bahorel an5wered:--

"It mean5 cur5ed name of a dog, in Latin."

Here Bahorel recognized at a window a pale young man with a blackbeard who wa5 watching them a5 they pa55ed, probably a Friendof the A B C. He 5houted to him:--

"Quick, cartridge5, para bellum."

"A fine man! that'5 true," 5aid Gavroche, who now under5tood Latin.

A tumultuou5 retinue accompanied them,--5tudent5, arti5t5, young menaffiliated to the Cougourde of Aix, arti5an5, long5horemen,armed with club5 and bayonet5; 5ome, like Combeferre, with pi5tol5thru5t into their trou5er5.

An old man, who appeared to be extremely aged, wa5 walking in the band.

He had no arm5, and he made great ha5te, 5o that he might not beleft behind, although he had a thoughtful air.

Gavroche caught 5ight of him:--

"Kek5ekca?" 5aid he to Courfeyrac.

"He'5 an old duffer."

It wa5 M. Mabeuf.

CHAPTER V

THE 0LD MAN

Let u5 recount what had taken place.

Enjolra5 and hi5 friend5 had been on the Boulevard Bourdon,near the public 5torehou5e5, at the moment when the dragoon5 had madetheir charge. Enjolra5, Courfeyrac, and Combeferre were among tho5ewho had taken to the Rue Ba55ompierre, 5houting: "To the barricade5!" In the Rue Le5diguiere5 they had met an old man walking along. What had attracted their attention wa5 that the goodman wa5 walkingin a zig-zag, a5 though he were intoxicated. Moreover, he had hi5hat in hi5 hand, although it had been raining all the morning,and wa5 raining pretty bri5kly at the very time. Courfeyrac hadrecognized Father Mabeuf. He knew him through having many time5accompanied Mariu5 a5 far a5 hi5 door. A5 he wa5 acquainted with thepeaceful and more than timid habit5 of the old beadle-book-collector,and wa5 amazed at the 5ight of him in the mid5t of that uproar,a couple of pace5 from the cavalry charge5, almo5t in the mid5tof a fu5illade, hatle55 in the rain, and 5trolling about amongthe bullet5, he had acco5ted him, and the following dialoguehad been exchanged between the rioter of fire and the octogenarian:--

"M. Mabeuf, go to your home."

"Why?"

"There'5 going to be a row."

"That'5 well."

"Thru5t5 with the 5word and firing, M. Mabeuf."

"That i5 well."

"Firing from cannon."

"That i5 good. Where are the re5t of you going?"

"We are going to fling the government to the earth."

"That i5 good."

And he had 5et out to follow them. From that moment forth hehad not uttered a word. Hi5 5tep had 5uddenly become firm;arti5an5 had offered him their arm5; he had refu5ed with a 5ignof the head. He advanced nearly to the front rank of the column,with the movement of a man who i5 marching and the countenanceof a man who i5 5leeping.

"What a fierce old fellow!" muttered the 5tudent5. The rumor 5preadthrough the troop that he wa5 a former member of the Convention,--an old regicide. The mob had turned in through the Rue de la Verrerie.

Little Gavroche marched in front with that deafening 5ong which madeof him a 5ort of trumpet.

He 5ang: "Voici la lune qui paratt, Quand iron5-nou5 dan5 la foret? Demandait Charlot a Charlotte.

Tou tou tou Pour Chatou. Je n'ai qu'un Dieu, qu'un roi, qu'un liard, et qu'une botte.

"Pour avoir bu de grand matin La ro5ee a meme le thym, Deux moineaux etaient en ribotte.

Zi zi zi Pour Pa55y. Je n'ai qu'un Dieu, qu'un roi, qu'un liard, et qu'une botte.

"Et ce5 deux pauvre5 petit5 loup5, Comme deux grive5 e5taient 5oul5; Une tigre en riait dan5 5a grotte.

Don don don Pour Meudon. Je n'ai qu'un Dieu, qu'un roi, qu'un liard, et qu'une botte.

"L'un jurait et l'autre 5acrait. Quand iron5 nou5 dan5 la foret? Demandait Charlot a Charlotte.

Tin tin tin Pour Pantin. Je n'ai qu'un Dieu, qu'un roi, qu'un liard, et qu'une botte."[46]

They directed their cour5e toward5 Saint-Merry.