"So this is as much as to say， perverse and thieving knave that you are， that you permit yourself to be lacking in respect towards the Auditor of the Chatelet， to the magistrate committed to the popular police of Paris， charged with searching out crimes， delinquencies， and evil conduct； with controlling all trades， and interdicting monopoly； with maintaining the pavements； with debarring the hucksters of chickens， poultry， and water-fowl； of superintending the measuring of fagots and other sorts of wood； of purging the city of mud， and the air of contagious maladies； in a word， with attending continually to public affairs， without wages or hope of salary！ Do you know that I am called Florian Barbedienne， actual lieutenant to monsieur the provost， and， moreover， commissioner， inquisitor， controller， and examiner， with equal power in provostship， bailiwick， preservation， and inferior court of judicature？--"There is no reason why a deaf man talking to a deaf man should stop. God knows where and when Master Florian would have landed， when thus launched at full speed in lofty eloquence， if the low door at the extreme end of the room had not suddenly opened， and given entrance to the provost in person. At his entrance Master Florian did not stop short， but， making a half-turn on his heels， and aiming at the provost the harangue with which he had been withering Quasimodo a moment before，--"Monseigneur，" said he， "I demand such penalty as you shall deem fitting against the prisoner here present， for grave and aggravated offence against the court."And he seated himself， utterly breathless， wiping away the great drops of sweat which fell from his brow and drenched， like tears， the parchments spread out before him. Messire Robert d'Estouteville frowned and made a gesture so imperious and significant to Quasimodo， that the deaf man in some measure understood it.
The provost addressed him with severity， "What have you done that you have been brought hither， knave？"The poor fellow， supposing that the provost was asking his name， broke the silence which he habitually preserved， and replied， in a harsh and guttural voice， "Quasimodo."The reply matched the question so little that the wild laugh began to circulate once more， and Messire Robert exclaimed， red with wrath，--"Are you mocking me also， you arrant knave？"
"Bellringer of Notre-Dame，" replied Quasimodo， supposing that what was required of him was to explain to the judge who he was.
"Bellringer！" interpolated the provost， who had waked up early enough to be in a sufficiently bad temper， as we have said， not to require to have his fury inflamed by such strange responses. "Bellringer！ I'll play you a chime of rods on your back through the squares of Paris！ Do you hear， knave？""If it is my age that you wish to know，" said Quasimodo， "I think that I shall be twenty at Saint Martin's day."This was too much； the provost could no longer restrain himself.
"Ah！ you are scoffing at the provostship， wretch！ Messieurs the sergeants of the mace， you will take me this knave to the pillory of the Grève， you will flog him， and turn him for an hour. He shall pay me for it， ~tête Dieu~！ And Iorder that the present judgment shall be cried， with the assistance of four sworn trumpeters， in the seven castellanies of the viscomty of Paris."The clerk set to work incontinently to draw up the account of the sentence.
"~Ventre Dieu~！ 'tis well adjudged！" cried the little scholar， Jehan Frollo du Moulin， from his corner.
The provost turned and fixed his flashing eyes once more on Quasimodo. "I believe the knave said '~Ventre Dieu~' Clerk， add twelve deniers Parisian for the oath， and let the vestry of Saint Eustache have the half of it； I have a particular devotion for Saint Eustache."In a few minutes the sentence was drawn up. Its tenor was simple and brief. The customs of the provostship and the viscomty had not yet been worked over by President Thibaut Baillet， and by Roger Barmne， the king's advocate；they had not been obstructed， at that time， by that lofty hedge of quibbles and procedures， which the two jurisconsults planted there at the beginning of the sixteenth century. All was clear， expeditious， explicit. One went straight to the point then， and at the end of every path there was immediately visible， without thickets and without turnings； the wheel， the gibbet， or the pillory. One at least knew whither one was going.
The clerk presented the sentence to the provost， who affixed his seal to it， and departed to pursue his round of the audience hall， in a frame of mind which seemed destined to fill all the jails in Paris that day. Jehan Frollo and Robin Poussepain laughed in their sleeves. Quasimodo gazed on the whole with an indifferent and astonished air.
However， at the moment when Master Florian Barbedienne was reading the sentence in his turn， before signing it， the clerk felt himself moved with pity for the poor wretch of a prisoner， and， in the hope of obtaining some mitigation of the penalty， he approached as near the auditor's ear as possible， and said， pointing to Quasimodo， "That man is deaf."He hoped that this community of infirmity would awaken Master Florian's interest in behalf of the condemned man.
But， in the first place， we have already observed that Master Florian did not care to have his deafness noticed. In the next place， he was so hard of hearing That he did not catch a single word of what the clerk said to him； nevertheless， he wished to have the appearance of hearing， and replied， "Ah！ ah！ that is different； I did not know that. An hour more of the pillory， in that case."And he signed the sentence thus modified.
"'Tis well done，" said Robin Poussepain， who cherished a grudge against Quasimodo. "That will teach him to handle people roughly."THE RAT-HOLE.
The reader must permit us to take him back to the Place de Grève， which we quitted yesterday with Gringoire， in order to follow la Esmeralda.
