Marius, dreamer as he was, was, as we have said, firm and energetic by nature. His habits of solitary meditation, while they had developed in him sympathy and compassion, had, perhaps, diminished the faculty for irritation, but had left intact the power of waxing indignant; he had the kindliness of a brahmin, and the severity of a judge; he took pity upon a toad, but he crushed a viper. Now, it was into a hole of vipers that his glance had just been directed,it was a nest of monsters that he had beneath his eyes.
"These wretches must be stamped upon," said he.
Not one of the enigmas which he had hoped to see solved had been elucidated; on the contrary, all of them had been rendered more dense, if anything; he knew nothing more about the beautifulmaiden of the Luxembourg and the man whom he called M. Leblanc,except that Jondrette was acquainted with them. Athwart the mysterious words which had been uttered, the only thing of which he caught a distinct glimpse was the fact that an ambush was in course of preparation, a dark but terrible trap; that both of them were incurring great danger, she probably, her father certainly; that they must be saved; that the hideous plots of the Jondrettes must be thwarted, and the web of these spiders broken.
He scanned the female Jondrette for a moment. She had pulled an old sheet-iron stove from a corner, and she was rummaging among the old heap of iron.
He descended from the commode as softly as possible, taking care not to make the least noise. Amid his terror as to what was in preparation,and in the horror with which the Jondrettes had inspired him,he experienced a sort of joy at the idea that it might be granted to him perhaps to render a service to the one whom he loved.
But how was it to be done? How warn the persons threatened? He did not know their address. They had reappeared for an instant before his eyes, and had then plunged back again into the immense depths of Paris. Should he wait for M. Leblanc at the door that evening at six o'clock, at the moment of his arrival, and warn him of the trap? But Jondrette and his men would see him on the watch, the spot was lonely, they were stronger than he, they would devise means to seize him or to get him away, and the man whom Marius was anxious to save would be lost. One o'clock had just struck,the trap was to be sprung at six. Marius had five hours before him.
There was but one thing to be done.
He put on his decent coat, knotted a silk handkerchief round his neck,took his hat, and went out, without making any more noise than if he had been treading on moss with bare feet.
Moreover, the Jondrette woman continued to rummage among her old iron.
Once outside of the house, he made for the Rue du Petit-Banquier.
He had almost reached the middle of this street, near a very low wall which a man can easily step over at certain points, and which abuts on a waste space, and was walking slowly, in consequence of his preoccupied condition, and the snow deadened the sound of his steps; all at once he heard voices talking very close by. He turned his head, the street was deserted, there was not a soul in it, it was broad daylight, and yet he distinctly heard voices.
It occurred to him to glance over the wall which he was skirting.
There, in fact, sat two men, flat on the snow, with their backs against the wall, talking together in subdued tones.
These two persons were strangers to him; one was a bearded man in a blouse, and the other a long-haired individual in rags. The bearded man had on a fez, the other's head was bare, and the snow had lodged in his hair.
By thrusting his head over the wall, Marius could hear their remarks.
The hairy one jogged the other man's elbow and said:--
"--With the assistance of Patron-Minette, it can't fail."
"Do you think so?" said the bearded man.
And the long-haired one began again:--
"It's as good as a warrant for each one, of five hundred balls,and the worst that can happen is five years, six years, ten years at the most!"
The other replied with some hesitation, and shivering beneath his fez:--
"That's a real thing. You can't go against such things."
"I tell you that the affair can't go wrong," resumed the long-haired man. "Father What's-his-name's team will be already harnessed."
Then they began to discuss a melodrama that they had seen on the preceding evening at the Gaite Theatre.
Marius went his way.
It seemed to him that the mysterious words of these men,so strangely hidden behind that wall, and crouching in the snow,could not but bear some relation to Jondrette's abominable projects. That must be the affair.
He directed his course towards the faubourg Saint-Marceau and asked at the first shop he came to where he could find a commissary of police.
He was directed to Rue de Pontoise, No. 14.
Thither Marius betook himself.
As he passed a baker's shop, he bought a two-penny roll, and ate it,foreseeing that he should not dine.
On the way, he rendered justice to Providence. He reflected that had he not given his five francs to the Jondrette girl in the morning,he would have followed M. Leblanc's fiacre, and consequently have remained ignorant of everything, and that there would have been no obstacle to the trap of the Jondrettes and that M. Leblanc would have been lost, and his daughter with him, no doubt.
马吕斯尽管是那么神魂颠倒，但是，我们已经提到，他具有坚定刚强的性格。独自思索的习惯，在他的同情心和怜悯心发展的同时，也许打磨了那种易于激动的性情，但是一点没有影响他见义勇为的气质。他有婆罗门教徒的慈悲和法官的严厉，他不忍伤害一只癞蛤蟆，但能踏死一条毒蛇。而他现在所注视的正是一个毒蛇洞，摆在他眼前的是个魔窟。
“必须踏住这帮无赖。”他心里想。
他希望猜出的种种哑谜一个也没有揭开，正相反，也许每个都变得更加难于看透了。关于卢森堡公园里那个美丽的女孩和他私自称为白先生的那个男子，除了知道容德雷特认识他们外，其他方面的情况却一点也没有增加。通过听到的那些暧昧的话，有一点却揣摸清楚了，那就是一场凶险的暗害阴谋正在准备中，他们两个都面临着巨大的危险，她也许还能幸免，她父亲却一定要遭毒手，必须搭救他们，必须粉碎容德雷特的恶毒诡计，扫掉那些蜘蛛的网。
他对容德雷特大娘望了一阵。她从屋角里拖出一个旧铁皮炉子，又去翻动一堆废铁。
他极其轻缓地从抽斗柜上跳下来，小心谨慎，不弄出一点声音。
在策划中的事给予他的惊恐以及容德雷特两口子在他心里激起的憎恶中，他想到自己也许能有办法为他心爱的人出一把力，不禁感到一种快慰。
但是应当怎么办呢？通知那两个遭暗算的人吗？到什么地方去找他们呢？他不知道他们的住址。她在他眼前重现了片刻，随即又隐没在巴黎的汪洋大海中了。傍晚六点，在门口守候白先生，等他一刻便把阴谋告诉他吗？但是容德雷特和他的那伙人会看出他的窥探意图，那地方荒凉，力量对比悬殊，他们有方法或把他扣住，或把他带到远处去，这样他要救的人也就完了。刚敲过一点，谋害行动要到六点才能实行，马吕斯眼前还有五个钟点。
只有一个办法。
他穿上那身勉强过得去的衣服，颈子上结一方围巾，拿起帽子，好象赤着脚在青苔上走路那样一点声息也没有，溜出去了。
而容德雷特大娘仍在废铁堆里乱翻乱捞。
出了大门，他便走向小银行家街。
在这条街的中段，有一道很矮的墙，墙上有几处是可以一步跨过去的，墙后是一片荒地。他一路心中盘算，从这地方慢慢走过，脚步声消失在积雪里。他忽然听见有人在他耳边细声谈话。他转过头去望，街上一片荒凉，不见有人，又是在大白天，他却明明听见有人在谈话。
他想起要把头伸到身边的墙头上去望望。
果然有两个人，背靠着墙，坐在雪里低声谈话。
那两个人的面孔是他从没见过的。一个生一脸络腮胡子，穿件布衫，一个留一头长发，衣服破烂。生络腮胡子的那个戴一顶希腊式的圆统帽，另一个光着头，雪花落在他的头发里。
马吕斯把脑袋伸在他们的头上面，可以听到他们所说的话。
留长发的那个用肘弯推着另一个说：
“有猫老板，不会出漏子的。”
“你以为？”那胡子说。接着留长发的那个又说：
“每人一张五百大头的票子，就算倒尽了霉吧，五年，六年，十年也就到了顶了。”
那一个伸手到希腊帽子下面去搔头皮，迟疑不决地回答：
“是呀，这东西一点不假。谁也不能说不想。”
“我敢说这次买卖不会出漏子，”留长发的那个又说，“那个老什么头的栏杆车还会套上牲口呢。”
接下去他们谈起前一晚在逸乐戏院看的一出音乐戏剧。
马吕斯继续走他的路。
他感到这两个人鬼鬼祟祟地躲在墙背后，蹲在雪里，说了那些半明不白的话，这也许和容德雷特的阴谋诡计不是没有关系的。“问题”便在这里了。
他向圣马尔索郊区走去，向最先遇到的一家铺子探听什么地方有警察的哨所。
人家告诉他蓬图瓦兹街十四号。
马吕斯向那里走去。
在走过一家面包店时，他买了两个苏的面包，吃了，估计到晚饭是不大靠得住的。
他一面走，一面感谢上苍。他心里想，他早上如果没有把那五法郎送给容德雷特姑娘，他早已去跟踪白先生的那辆马车了，因而什么也不会知道，也就没有什么能制止容德雷特两口子的暗害阴谋，白先生完了，他的女儿也一定跟着他一同完了。
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