Les Misérables Ch. 276: Recruits

Summary

The band augmented every moment. Near the Rue des Billettes, a man of lofty stature, whose hair was turning gray, and whose bold and daring mien was remarked by Courfeyrac, Enjolras, and Combeferre, but whom none of them knew, joined them. Gavroche, who was occupied in singing, whistling, humming, running on ahead and pounding on the shutters of the shops with the butt of his triggerless pistol, paid no attention to this man. It chanced that in the Rue de la Verrerie they passed in front of Courfeyrac's door. This happens just right, said Courfeyrac. I have forgotten my purse, and I have lost my hat. He quitted the mob and ran up to his quarters at full speed. He seized an old hat and his purse. He also seized a large square coffer, of the dimensions of a large valise, which was concealed under his soiled linen.

As he descended again at a run, the portress hailed him by a title he would not wear. If you call me that again, he said, I shall put a de on your name too. There is some one who wants to speak with you. The person has been waiting your return for over an hour. A pale, thin, small, freckled, and youthful artisan, clad in a tattered blouse and patched trousers of ribbed velvet, and who had rather the air of a girl accoutred as a man than of a man, emerged from the lodge and asked for Marius in a voice which was not the least in the world like a woman's. He is not here. Will he return this evening? I know nothing about it. For my part, I shall not return. The young man gazed steadily at him. Would you like to have me carry your coffer for you? I am going to the barricades. Would you like to have me go with you? If you like, replied Courfeyrac. The street is free. The pavements belong to every one.

And he made his escape at a run to join his friends. When he had rejoined them, he gave the coffer to one of them to carry. It was only a quarter of an hour after this that he saw the young man, who had actually followed them. A mob does not go precisely where it intends. A gust of wind carries it away. They overshot Saint-Merry and found themselves, without precisely knowing how, in the Rue Saint-Denis.

In this chapter: Terms Key Quotes

Why This Matters

Name the follow before you treat the free street as already a private errand

A stranger can still join a march you did not invite, and still not be the person waiting in the lodge. Courfeyrac runs up for a hat and a coffer, a pale artisan asks for Marius and then asks to go to the barricades, and the band overshoots Saint-Merry.

This week, if a stranger asked to carry what you were taking to a fight, name the follow, and do not treat the free street as already a private errand.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Courfeyrac

He runs up for a hat and a coffer. A pale artisan asks for Marius, then asks to go to the barricades, and Courfeyrac says the pavements belong to every one. A free street can still take a stranger the band did not invite, and still miss the church it named.

Continue this thoughtThe Street Treated as a Country

Coming Up in Chapter 277

The Parisians who nowadays enter the Rue Rambuteau near the Halles notice on their right a basket-maker's shop, a Napoleon made wholly of willow. They have no suspicion of the terrible scenes which this very spot witnessed.

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Chapter 276

Recruits

The band augmented every moment. Near the Rue des Billettes, a man of lofty stature, whose hair was turning gray, and whose bold and daring mien was remarked by Courfeyrac, Enjolras, and Combeferre, but whom none of them knew, joined them. Gavroche, who was occupied in singing, whistling, humming, running on ahead and pounding on the shutters of the shops with the butt of his triggerless pistol; paid no attention to this man. It chanced that in the Rue de la Verrerie, they passed in front of Courfeyrac’s door. “This happens just right,” said Courfeyrac, “I have forgotten my purse,…

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Recruits

Summary

Why This Matters