Les Misérables, Book 5: For a Black Hunt, a Mute Pack, Chapter 4 summary

What happens

1. The narrator describes the building and sheltered recess at the meeting of Droit-Mur lane and Rue Polonceau.
2. Jean Valjean hopes the apparently empty building can shelter him and Cosette.
3. He seats Cosette beside a stone post and examines drainpipes, but their weakness, barred windows, and moonlight defeat his climbing plan.
4. He returns to the hidden recess and hopes to enter a garden through one of two apparent doors.
5. The carriage gate resists entry, while the larger apparent door proves to be wooden covering over masonry.

In this chapter

What to notice

The discovery defeats another escape plan. An entrance that seems weak enough to break offers no passage at all.

Quick check