-" .-

?rnted5'COUrde8 MiraCleS mre ~sful!y ^^\^^^^
From every quarter burst forth the coarse laugh
and the obscene song.    Each  did
iv .. ., """& nacii uia just as he
pleased, swearing and descanting, without listen
ing to his neighbor. The pots jingled, quarrels
arose, and broken mugs occasioned a destruction
or rSrgs.
. A lalIe !?og w?? seated on his haunches look-
ing at the lire Young children were present at
these orgies. The stolen boy was crying bitterly
Another, a stout fellow about four year! old wa's
sitting on a high bench, dangling his legs at the
table, which reached up to his chin, and saying
not a word A third was gravely spreading with
his finger the melted tallow which ran from a
candle upon the table. The last, a little urchin
crouching in the dirt, was almost lost in a kettle
which he was scraping with a tile, and from
which he was extracting sounds that would have
thrown Stradivarius into a swoon
Near the fire stood a hogshead, and upon this
hogshead was seated a mendicant. This was the
png upon his throne. The three vagabonds who
held Gringoire led him before the hogshead and
for a moment the whole motley assemblage' was
silent, excepting the kettle inhab-
ited by the boy. Gringoire durst
not breathe or raise his eyes.
"Hombre, quita tu sombrero"
said one of the three fellows i'n
whose clutches he was, and, before
he knew what was meant, one of
the others took off his hata shabby
covering, it is true, but still useful
either against sun or rain. Grin
goire sighed.
" Whafvarlet have we here ? "
asked the King. Gringoire shud-
dered. This voice, though it now
had a tone of menace, reminded
him of another which had that verv
morning given the first blow to his
mystery, by drawling out amid the
audience, "Charity, if you please !"
Be raised his eyes. It was Clopin
Trouillefou himself.
Clopin Trouillefou, invested with
the insignia of royalty, had not a
rag more or a rag less than usual.
The sore on his arm had  disap-
peared.   He held in his hand one
l th?..w,hlpi omposed of thongs
of white leather, which were used
by the vergers in those days to keen
back the crowd.   On his head he
wore a cap of such peculiar form
that it was difficult to tell whether
it was a child's biggin or a king's
crown-so much are the two things
alike.    Gringoire, however, had re-
gained some hope, though without
knowing   why, on recognizing in
toe King of the Cour des Miracles
tedLPr      mg beggarof the great
"Master," he  stammered  forth,
,?ny lord71?re--what  ought I to
call  you?'; he   at  length asked,
haying arrived at the culminating
Pnt. of his crescendo,  and not
knowing how to get higher or to
descend again.
Ja^1 m?. y.our majesty, or com-
h *' or what you will. But make
haste What hast thou to say in
toy defense?"                         '
"In thy defense !  thought Grin-
was ij.i  be resumed, with
wh^?   hesitation   as   before,
who, this morning-----
nin <Lthe de!.U's hoofs !" cried Clo-
fcive te^"Pting him,"thy name.
S  and  nothing more.    Mark me.    Thou
with a Z,i rJTOfeAhtm thou seest yonder
iT^4^4^StX'S:
hastvi0Yate!?uLi)elng-i,neof our subjects; thou
mustZ !1 ,tller Privileges  of our city.   Thou
ora strouer^rd'fnnle8S ^ou S&Sfccadge"
who can t'hTi1'  T the gibberish of those
beggar I a?selve h?nA People, a thief, a
.mWCVSH., Art thpuany of these?
" if,i     '. 8tate thy qualities."
*"i'amXnS?' "* h mt that
feringH\n''er^laed Trouillefou, without suf-
Andqu  r,Xhf?eed- Tl0U 8haltbe hanged.
AsyoudeVhll'00' "^sieurs honest citizens!
deal by voUrf nTn,Prpleamn?ung,you 80 we will
make for tho v-hg^U9V Tv]7 law which you
force wthvo7 ^nd3'th,e^^bond8 will en-
one. Is C'J?S l. n faUuU if it i a harsh
now and tlmn i?i per ^ an houest man should
en collaiw tLf Seeu, grling through a hemp-
Come my 1 riP,ti ^-f    le   0ling   honorable.
mummery "to ^naTe'rCT- If hou hast any
there is a capitafcrncifiv ir,^" ln .the <llari
UP at St. E^g*^^?^
minutes to settle the affahs of thy so *"* fUr
" WelTsaid1,,^111* announme,it
preadrt ike RM,' PCloP,! Trouillefou
KofGaliletbhr&gtK^V%
he recovered suffioiW ZA   uld m,^ke out how
shouldst nofg^^gf^p?* why thou
scrap*1houg&UGriioLgeVmySeI!,out of this
less an'oth? effort      g-   He made nerorthe-
bond, Homer a beggar, Mercury a thiet"          g
QUASIMODO OPENED A PASSAGE FOB HIM THROUGH THE CROWD.
tl1Fv}Si?fin^;er^pte,? him' "I verily believe thou
thmkest to bamboozle us with thy palaver. 'Sdeath '
as thou must be hanged, make no more ado."
Pardon me, most illustrious King of Thunes."
replied Gringoire disputing the ground inch by
inch :   w it worth whileonly one momentyou
wiU not condemn me unheard-----"
His voice was absolutely drowned by the up-
roar _ which prevailed around him. The little
urchin continued to scrape his kettle with greater
energy than ever ; and, to mend the matter, an
old woman had just placed on the red-hot trevet
a frying pan full of fat, which yelped and tackled
over the fire, like a dog that has been pipe-tailed
by a troop of mischievous boys.
Clopin Trouillefou appeared to be conferring
tor a moment with the Duke of Egypt, and the
Emperor of Galilee, who was quite drunk. He
then cried out sharply, "Silence, there!" and, as
the kettle and the frying-pan paid no attention to
mm, but continued their duet, he leaped from his
hogshead, gave one kick to the kettle, which
rolled away with the boy to the distance of ten
Pac,es, and another to the frying-pan, which upset
all the fat into the fire. He then gravely re-ascend-
ed his throne, caring no more for the smothered
crying of the child than for the grumbling of the
hag, whose supper had gone off in a blaze.
Trouillefou made a sign, and the Duke, the Em-
peror, and the high dignitaries of the Kingdom of
Cant, ranged themselves around him in a semicir-
O lu     tTlii   Hrrtnn   S.P  v,.l,:,.l.   ..,..   mn,, :.,.-]   1-----J~l     __   _.     
k BSE? ,a"ong these wenches f whl lavelw KErJS , Vn01 Knitanes o he Kingdom of satisfaction to see set p before h 8 fa
m hanged to amuse the vagabonds aTd tl sS S 'h?Sl thefmle'v,f around h-"5 m r. s-emicir- NothinS. was wanting, not.even the
j                                         agtuonas. ana thou shalt I cle, the center of which was occupied by Gringoire, I dangled gracefully from the cross-bar
andhatchets,Tbare brawn?rmtlnSe^  fork8
squalid, bloated sttm.H ^ ,y-arm.8 and legs, of
middle'of thfs.roundtaht r?f lng faceJ, In the
Trouillefou,like the doge 0?Iha?amu?n8,-,C1Pi11
chief of this clan hke Te pone ofrl^' hke, the
overawed, in the first niaL hT. hls conclave,
his hogshead, andI to the nextVv ^Wll e ?eight *
ferocious, and to^OM&^S^J1^^
deformiTchin^with hist0horn?ghnd ""fS? his
reason why thou shouldst not be hanged Th
seemest, indeed, to have a dislike to itw t hflou
isifllliri
tearngativee.agerly at the prop08d *
sai'|jC^tainly, most assuredly I will,''
r,inT5^ cnsentest," rejoined Clo-
m1ennoftSlaeSg?"thrSelfam0ngthe
an^^ed^g^ decided*8."
"Thou acknowledgestthyself one
Thunesr6W    proceeded the King <>*
" One of the crew."
Canti?UbJe0t f the Ktagdomof
'.' ?fJhe Kingdom of Cant."
"A Vagabond?"
" A Vagabond."
"With all thy soul?
" With all my soul."
ti'Takue,?ticer" said the King,
 S,?8halt nevertheless be hanged^'
The devd!" ejaculated the poet.
. "Only," continued Clopin with
imperturbable gravity, "tnou shalt
not be hanged quite so soon and
with more ceremony, at the cost of
the good city of Paris, on a fair
stone gibbet, and by the hands of
gonest men.   That is some consola-
.you 8ay'" replied Gringoire.
ltiexe are some other advan-
tages which thou wilt enjoy. As
one of the crew, thou wilt not have
to pay rates, either for lamp, scav-
enger, or poor, to which the honest
burgesses of Paris are liable."
Be it so!" said the poet. T
am a Vagabond, a subject of the
Kingdom of Cant, one of the crew,
a man of Slang, any thing you
please; nay, I was all these before,
august King of Thunes, for I am a
philosopher; et omnia in philoso-
phy, omnes in philosophe- continen-
tur, you know."
The august King of Thunes knit-
ted his brow. "What do you take
me for, my friend ? What Hungary
Jew gibberish are you talking now?
I know nothing of Hebrew. One
may be a ruffian without  being a
Gringoire strove to slip in an ex-
cuse between these brief sentences
cut short by anger. "I beg your
but Latin." ma]esty s Pardon; it is not Hebrew,
"I tell thee," rejoined Clopin furkrasly, "I am
not a Jew, and I will have thee hanged varlet'a
a"d that little Jew peddler beside the'e^hom^
hope some day to see nailed to a counter, like a
piece of base coin as he is."
As he thus spoke, he pointed to the little beard-
ed Hungarian Jew, who, acquainted with no oth-
er language but that in which he had accosted
Gringoire, was surprised at the ill-humor which
tne King of Thunes appeared to be venting unon
him.   At length King Clopin became somewhat
more calm.   'Knave,s said he to our poet, "thou
hast a mmd then to be a Vagabond ?"
"Undoubtedly," replied Gringoire.
_ Tis not enough to have a mind," said his surlv
majesty; "good-will puts not one more onion into
the soup.   To be admitted into our brotherhood
thou must prove that thou art fit for something'
Show us thy skill at picking a pocket."
' Anything you please," said the poet.
Clopin made a sign.   Several of the Vagabonds
left  the  circle,  and presently returned.   Thev
brought two poles, each having aflat horizontal
piece of wood fastened at the lower extremitv un
on which it stood upright on the ground    Into
the upper ends of these two poles the bearers fit-
ted a cross-bar, and the whole then formed a verv
handy portable gibbet, which Gringoire had the
satisfaction to see set up before his face inTa trice
Nothing was wanting, not even the cord, which