ut, and people will come, and then slap, bang!
There are six of you; I represent the whole world."

Thenardier made a movement towards her.

"Don't approach!" she cried.

He halted, and said gently:--

"Well, no; I won't approach, but don't speak so loud. So you intend to
hinder us in our work, my daughter? But we must earn our living all the
same. Have you no longer any kind feeling for your father?"

"You bother me," said Eponine.

"But we must live, we must eat--"

"Burst!"

So saying, she seated herself on the underpinning of the fence and
hummed:--

"Mon bras si dodu, "My arm so plump,
Ma jambe bien faite My leg well formed,
Et le temps perdu." And time wasted."

She had set her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, and she
swung her foot with an air of indifference. Her tattered gown permitted
a view of her thin shoulder-blades. The neighboring street lantern
illuminated her profile and her attitude. Nothing more resolute and more
surprising could be seen.

The six rascals, speechless and gloomy at being held in check by a girl,
retreated beneath the shadow cast by the lantern, and held counsel with
furious and humiliated shrugs.

In the meantime she stared at them with a stern but peaceful air.

"There's something the matter with her," said Babet. "A reason. Is she
in love with the dog? It's a shame to miss this, anyway. Two women, an
old fellow who lodges in the back-yard, and curtains that ain't so bad
at the windows. The old cove must be a Jew. I think the job's a good
one."

"Well, go in, then, the rest of you," exclaimed Montparnasse. "Do the
job. I'll stay here with the girl, and if she fails us--"

He flashed the knife, which he held open in his hand, in the light of
the lantern.

Thenardier said not a word, and seemed ready for whatever the rest
pleased.

Brujon, who was somewhat of an oracle, and who had, as the reader knows,
"put up the job," had not as yet spoken. He seemed thoughtful. He had
the reputation of not sticking at anything, and it was known that he
had plundered a police post simply out of bravado. Besides this he made
verses and songs, which gave him great authority.

Babet interrogated him:--

"You say nothing, Brujon?"

Brujon remained silent an instant longer, then he shook his head in
various ways, and finally concluded to speak:--

"See here; this morning I came across two sparrows fighting, thi