"Courage!" I answered. "In two hours we will have left the spirit of evil behind."
And she sighed to herself as we pressed forward. We had passed the Vallée de Misère and the Gloriette, and had now come to the fish market. It was here, amidst the raucous cries of buyers and sellers, that the crowd forced us to stop for a little. I drew my companion into the shadow of a booth, and as I did so I heard a fragment of talk between two men a little to one side of us.
"You think it will be successful?"
"Not one will escape. They are like rats in a trap."
The speaker laughed, and I would have sworn I knew the voice.
Mademoiselle had heard too, and her eyes were shining like stars.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered quickly. "Quick! Let us hasten!"
I held her back for a little, until the two had passed before us. As the light from the booth fell on them I saw that I was right—the last speaker was Camus, but the other man I knew not.
"Now, across!" I said, as the two were lost in the crowd, and with that
I hurried mademoiselle to the other side of the road.
"Monsieur," she said, "these men were talking of us, of my people, I mean—I feel sure of it—and we are too late."