"Forward!"




IV

That night the vagabonds, who had taken refuge in the neighborhood of
the Poivriere, had a very bad time of it; for while those who managed
to sleep were disturbed by frightful dreams of a police raid, those who
remained awake witnessed some strange incidents, well calculated to
fill their minds with terror. On hearing the shots fired inside Mother
Chupin's drinking den, most of the vagrants concluded that there had
been a collision between the police and some of their comrades, and they
immediately began prowling about, eagerly listening and watching, and
ready to take flight at the least sign of danger. At first they could
discover no particular reasons for alarm. But later on, at about two
o'clock in the morning, just as they were beginning to feel secure
again, the fog lifted a little, and they witnessed a phenomenon well
calculated to arouse anxiety.

Upon the unoccupied tract of land, which the people of the neighborhood
called the "plain," a small but very bright light was seen describing
the most capricious evolutions. It moved here and there without any
apparent aim, tracing the most inexplicable zigzags, sometimes sinking
to the earth, sometimes rising to a height of four or five feet, at
others remaining quite motionless, and the next second flying off like
a ball. In spite of the place and the season of the year, the less
ignorant among vagabonds believed the light to be some ignis fatuus, one
of those luminous meteors that raise from the marshes and float about