own flat on his stomach and crawled along on top of the wall as far as the cant.
As he had guessed, there stood a building whose roof started from the top of the wooden barricade and descended to within a very short distance of the ground, with a gentle slope which grazed the linden-tree. A lucky circumstance,
for the wall was much higher on this side than on the street side. Jean Valjean could only see the ground at a great depth below him.
He had just reached the slope of the roof, and had not yet left the crest of the wall, when a violent uproar announced the arrival of the patrol.
The thundering voice of Javert was audible:--
"Search the blind alley!
The Rue Droit-Mur is guarded! so is the Rue Petit-Picpus. I''ll answer for it that he is in the blind alley."
The soldiers rushed into the Genrot alley.
Jean Valjean allowed himself to slide down the roof, still holding fast to Cosette, reached the linden-tree, and leaped to the ground. Whether from terror or courage, Cosette had not breathed a sound, though her hands were a little abraded.
BOOK FIFTH.--FOR A BLACK HUNT, A MUTE PACK
CHAPTER VI
THE BEGINNING OF AN ENIGMA
Jean Valjean found himself in a sort of garden which was very vast and of singular aspect; one of those melancholy gardens which seem made to be looked at in winter and at night.