it was about this epoch that enjolras, in view of a possible catastrophe, instituted a kind of mysterious census.
all were present at a secret meeting at the cafe musain.
enjolras said, mixing his words with a few half-enigmatical but significant metaphors:--"it is proper that we should know where we stand and on whom we may count. if combatants are required, they must be provided. it can do no harm to have something with which to strike. passers-by always have more chance of being gored when there are bulls on the road than when there are none. let us, therefore, reckon a little on the herd. how many of us are there? there is no question of postponing this task until to-morrow. revolutionists should always be hurried; progress has no time to lose. let us mistrust the unexpected. let us not be caught unprepared. we must go over all the seams that we have made and see whether they hold fast. this business ought to be concluded to-day. courfeyrac, you will see the polytechnic students. it is their day to go out. to-day is wednesday. feuilly, you will see those of the glaciere, will you not? combeferre has promised me to go to picpus. there is a perfect swarm and an excellent one there. bahorel will visit the estrapade. prouvaire, the masons are growing lukewarm; you will bring us news from the lodge of the rue de grenelle-saint-honore. joly will go to dupuytren's clinical lecture, and feel the pulse of the medical school. bossuet will take a little turn in the court and talk with the young law licentiates. i will take charge of the cougourde myself."
"that arranges everything," said courfeyrac.
"no."
"what else is there?"
"a very important thing."
"what is that?" asked courfeyrac.
"the barriere du maine," replied enjolras.
enjolras remained for a moment as though absorbed in reflection, then he resumed:--
"at the barriere du maine there are marble-workers, painters, and journeymen in the studios of sculptors. they are an enthusiastic family, but liable to cool off. i don't know what has been the matter with them for some time past. they are thinking of something else. they are becoming extinguished. they pass their time playing dominoes. there is urgent need that some one should go and talk with them a little, but with firmness. they meet at richefeu's. they are to be found there between twelve and one o'clock. those ashes must be fanned into a glow. for that errand i had counted on that abstracted marius, who is a good fellow on the whole, but he no longer comes to us. i need some one for the barriere du maine. i have no one."
"what about me?" said grantaire. "here am i."
"you?"
"i."
"you indoctrinate republicans! you warm up hearts that have grown cold in the name of principle!"
"why not?"
"are you good for anything?"
"i have a vague ambition in that direction," said grantaire.
"you do not believe in everything."
"i believe in you."
"grantaire will you do me a service?"
"anything. i'll black your boots."
"well, don't meddle with our affairs. sleep yourself sober from your absinthe."
"you are an ingrate, enjolras."
"you the man to go to the barriere du maine! you capable of it!"
"i am capable of descending the rue de gres, of crossing the place saint-michel, of sloping through the rue monsieur-le-prince, of taking the rue de vaugirard, of passing the carmelites, of turning into the rue d'assas, of reaching the rue du cherche-midi, of leaving behind me the conseil de guerre, of pacing the rue des vielles tuileries, of striding across the boulevard, of following the chaussee du maine, of passing the barrier, and entering richefeu's. i am capable of that. my shoes are capable of that."
"do you know anything of those comrades who meet at richefeu's?"
"not much. we only address each other as thou."
"what will you say to them?"
"i will speak to them of robespierre, pardi! of danton. of principles."
"you?"
"i. but i don't receive justice. when i set about it, i am terrible. i have read prudhomme, i know the social contract, i know my constitution of the year two by heart. `the liberty of one citizen ends where the liberty of another citizen begins. do you take me for a brute? i have an old bank-bill of the republic in my drawer. the rights of man, the sovereignty of the people, sapristi! i am even a bit of a hebertist. i can talk the most superb twaddle for six hours by the clock, watch in hand."
"be serious," said enjolras.
"i am wild," replied grantaire.
enjolras meditated for a few moments, and made the gesture of a man who has taken a resolution.
"grantaire," he said gravely, "i consent to try you. you shall go to the barriere du maine."
grantaire lived in furnished lodgings very near the cafe musain. he went out, and five minutes later he returned. he had gone home to put on a robespierre waistcoat.
"red," said he as he entered, and he looked intently at enjolras. then, with the palm of his energetic hand, he laid the two scarlet points of the waistcoat across his breast.
and stepping up to enjolras, he whispered in his ear:--
"be easy."
he jammed his hat on resolutely and departed.
a quarter of an hour later, the back room of the cafe musain was deserted. all the friends of the a b c were gone, each in his own direction, each to his own task. enjolras, who had reserved the cougourde of aix for himself, was the last to leave.
those members of the cougourde of aix who were in paris then met on the plain of issy, in one of the abandoned quarries which are so numerous in that side of paris.
as enjolras walked towards this place, he passed the whole situation in review in his own mind. the gravity of events was self-evident. when facts, the premonitory symptoms of latent social malady, move heavily, the slightest complication stops and entangles them. a phenomenon whence arises ruin and new births. enjolras descried a luminous uplifting beneath the gloomy skirts of the future. who knows? perhaps the moment was at hand. the people were again taking possession of right, and what a fine spectacle! the revolution was again majestically taking possession of france and saying to the world: "the sequel to-morrow!" enjolras was content. the furnace was being heated. he had at that moment a powder train of friends scattered all over paris. he composed, in his own mind, with combeferre's philosophical and penetrating eloquence, feuilly's cosmopolitan enthusiasm, courfeyrac's dash, bahorel's smile, jean prouvaire's melancholy, joly's science, bossuet's sarcasms, a sort of electric spark which took fire nearly everywhere at once. all hands to work. surely, the result would answer to the effort. this was well.this made him think of grantaire.
"hold," said he to himself, "the barriere du maine will not take me far out of my way. what if i were to go on as far as richefeu's? let us have a look at what grantaire is about, and see how he is getting on."
one o'clock was striking from the vaugirard steeple when enjolras reached the richefeu smoking-room.
he pushed open the door, entered, folded his arms, letting the door fall to and strike his shoulders, and gazed at that room filled with tables, men, and smoke.
a voice broke forth from the mist of smoke, interrupted by another voice. it was grantaire holding a dialogue with an adversary.
grantaire was sitting opposite another figure, at a marble saint-anne table, strewn with grains of bran and dotted with dominos. he was hammering the table with his fist, and this is what enjolras heard:--
"double-six."
"fours."
"the pig! i have no more."
"you are dead. a two."
"six."
"three."
"one."
"it's my move."
"four points."
"not much."
"it's your turn."
"i have made an enormous mistake."
"you are doing well."
"fifteen."
"seven more."
"that makes me twenty-two." [thoughtfully, "twenty-two!"]
"you weren't expecting that double-six. if i had placed it at the beginning, the whole play would have been changed."
"a two again."
"one."
"one! well, five."
"i haven't any."
"it was your play, i believe?"
"yes."
"blank."
"what luck he has! ah! you are lucky! [long revery.] two."
"one."
"neither five nor one. that's bad for you."
"domino."
"plague take it!"
就在这个时期，安灼拉感到事变可能发生，便暗中着手清理队伍。
大家全在缪尚咖啡馆里举行秘密会议。
安灼拉正以某种闪烁然而说明问题的语言在说着话：
“应当明确一下目前的情况，有些什么人是可靠的。假如需要战士，便应动员起来。准备好打击力量。这并没有什么不好。过路的人，在路上有牛时，要比在路上没牛时有更多的机会碰上牛角。因此，让我们来数数这牛群。我们这里有多少人？这工作不能留到明天去做。干革命的人随时都应抓紧时间。进步不容许延误时机。我们应当提防意外。不要措手不及。现在便应检查一下，我们所做的缝缀工作是否有脱线的地方。这件事今天便应摸清底。古费拉克，你去看看综合工科学校的那些同学。这是他们休假的日子。今天星期三。弗以伊，我说，你去看看冰窖的那些人。公白飞已同意去比克布斯。那儿有一股极好的力量，巴阿雷将去访问吊刑台。勃鲁维尔，那些泥瓦工人有些冷下来了，你到圣奥诺雷－格勒内尔街的会址里去替我们探听一下消息。若李，你到杜普伊特朗医院去了解一下医学院的动态。博须埃到法院去走一趟，和那些见习生谈谈。我，负责苦古尔德。”
“全布置好了。”古费拉克说。
“没有。”
“还有什么事？”
“一件极重要的事。”
“什么事？”公白飞问。
“梅恩便门。”安灼拉回答说。
安灼拉聚精会神凝想了一阵，又说道：
“在梅恩便门，有些云石制造工人、画家、雕刻工场的粗坯工人。那是一伙劲头很大的自己人，但是有点忽冷忽热。我不知道他们最近出了什么事。他们想到旁的事上去了。他们泄了气。有空便打骨牌。应当赶快去和他们谈谈，并且扎扎实实地谈谈。他们聚会的地方在利什弗店里。从中午到一点，可以在那里遇见他们。这一炉快灭的火非打气不可了。我原想把这事交给马吕斯去办，这人心乱，但还是个好人，可惜他不再来这儿了。我非得有个人去梅恩便门不可。可我没有人了。”
“还有我呢？”格朗泰尔说，“我不是在这儿吗？”
“你？”
“我。”
“你，去教育共和党人！你，用主义去鼓动冷却了的心！”
“为什么不？”
“你也能做点象样的事吗？”
“我的确马马虎虎有这么一点雄心。”格朗泰尔说。
“你一点信仰也没有。”
“我信仰你。”
“格朗泰尔，你肯替我帮个忙吗？”
“帮任何忙都可以。替你擦皮鞋都成。”
“那么，请你不要过问我们的事。去喝你的苦艾酒吧。”
“你太不识好歹了，安灼拉。”
“你会是去梅恩便门的人！你会有这能耐！”
“我有能耐走下格雷街，穿过圣米歇尔广场，打亲王先生街斜插过去，进入伏吉拉尔街，走过加尔默罗修院，转到阿萨斯街，到达寻午街，把军事委员会甩在我后面，跨过老瓦厂街，踏上大路，沿着梅恩大道走去，越过便门，并走进利什弗店里去。我有能耐干这些。我的鞋便有这能耐。”
“你也稍稍认识利什弗店里的那些同志吗？”
“不多。我们谈话都是‘你’来‘你’去的罢了。”
“你打算和他们谈些什么呢？”
“谈罗伯斯庇尔呗，这还用问！谈丹东。谈主义。”
“你！”
“我。你们对我太不公道了。我上了劲以后，可一点也不含糊。我念过普律多姆1的著作。我知道《民约》2。我能背我的《二年宪法》。‘公民的自由终止于另一公民自由的开始。’难道你以为我是个傻瓜蛋？我抽屉里还有一张旧指券3呢。人的权利，人民的主权，活见鬼！我甚至有点阿贝尔4主义的倾向。我还可以一连六个钟点，手里拿着表，天花乱坠地大谈一通。”
1普律多姆（prudhomme），领导当时巴黎革命活动的一个新闻记者。
2《民约》（lecontratsocial），卢梭的著作。
3指券（assignat），一七八九年至一七九七年在法国流通的一种有国家财产作担保的证券，后当通货使用。
4阿贝尔（hébert，1799?887），法国的法学家和保守派国家活动家，奥尔良党人，议会议员（1834?848）。一八四一年起是王家法庭的首席检查官，曾任司法大臣。一八四九年为立法议会议员。
“放严肃点。”安灼拉说。
“我原是一本正经的。”格朗泰尔回答说。
安灼拉思考了几秒钟，作出了一个下决心的人的姿势。
“格朗泰尔，”他沉重地说，“我同意让你去试试。你去梅恩便门就是。”
格朗泰尔原住在贴近缪尚咖啡馆的一间带家具出租的屋子里。他走出去，五分钟过后，又回来了。他回家去跑了一趟，穿上了一件罗伯斯庇尔式的背心。
“红的。”他走进来，眼睛盯着安灼拉说。
他接着便一巴掌狠狠地打在他自己的胸脯上，按着那件背心通红的两只尖角。
他又走上去，凑在安灼拉的耳边说：
“你放心。”
他拿起他的帽子，猛按在头上，走了。
一刻钟过后，缪尚咖啡馆的那间后厅已经走空。abc的朋友们社的成员全都各走一方，去干自己的工作了。负责苦古尔德社的安灼拉最后走。
艾克斯的苦古尔德社的成员当时有一部分来到了巴黎，他们常在伊西平原上一处废弃了的采石场开会，在巴黎这一面，这种废弃了的采石场原是很多的。
安灼拉一面朝这聚会的地方走去，同时也全面思考着当时的情势。事态的严重是明显的。事态有如某些潜伏期中的社会病所呈现的症状，当它笨重地向前移动时，稍微出点岔子便能阻止它的进展，打乱它的步伐。这便是崩溃和再生由此产生的一种现象。安灼拉展望前途，在未来昏暗的下摆下面，隐隐望见了一种恍惚有光的晃荡。谁知道？也许时机临近了。人民再度掌握大权，何等美好的景象！革命再度庄严地占有法兰西，并且对世界说：“下文且听明天分解！”安灼拉心中感到满意。炉子正在热起来。这时，安灼拉那一小撮火药似的朋友正分赴巴黎各处。他有公白飞的透辟的哲学辩才，弗以伊的世界主义的热忱，古费拉克的劲头，巴阿雷的笑，让·勃鲁维尔的郁闷，若李的见识，博须埃的喜笑怒骂，这一切，在他脑子里形成一种从四面八方同时引起大火的电花。人人都在做工作。效果一定会随毅力而来。前途乐观。这又使他想起了格朗泰尔。他想道：“等一等，梅恩便门离我要走的路不远。我何不到利什弗店里去转一趟呢？正好去看看格朗泰尔在干什么，看他的事情办到什么程度了。”
安灼拉到达利什弗店时，伏吉拉尔的钟搂正敲一点。他推开门，走进去，交叉起两条胳膊，让那两扇门折回来抵在他的肩头上，望着那间满是桌子、人和烟雾的厅堂。
从烟雾里传出一个人大声说话的声音，被另一个声音所打断。格朗泰尔正在和他的一个对手你一言我一语。
格朗泰尔和另一张脸对坐在一张圣安娜云石桌子的两旁，桌上撒满了麸皮屑和骨牌，他正用拳头敲那云石桌面，下面便是安灼拉所听到的对话：
“双六。”
“四点。”
“猪！我没有了。”
“你死了。两点。”
“六点。”
“三点。”
“老幺。”
“归我出牌。”
“四点。”
“不好办。”
“你出。”
“我大错特错。”
“你出得好。”
“十五点。”
“再加七点。”
“这样我便是二十二点了。（若有所思。）二十二！”
“你没有料到这张双六吧。我一上来先出了张双六，局面便大不相同。”
“还是两点。”
“老幺。”
“老幺！好吧，五点。”
“我没有了。”
“刚才是你出牌的吧，对吗？”
“对。”
“白板。”
“他运气多好！啊！你真走运！（出了好一会神。）两点。”
“老幺。”
“没有五点，也没有老幺。该你倒霉。”
“清了。”
“狗东西！”