Bigrenaille threw his life-preserver at Javert's feet. "You are the Emperor of the devils, and I surrender."
"And you?" Javert asked the other bandits.
They answered, "We too."
Javert remarked calmly,—
"That is all right; I begged you to behave like gentlemen."
"I only ask one thing," Bigrenaille remarked,—"that my tobacco may n't be stopped while I'm in solitary confinement."
"Granted," said Javert.
Then he turned and shouted, "You can come in now!"
A squad of police, sword in hand, and agents armed with bludgeons and sticks, rushed in at Javert's summons, and bound the robbers. This crowd of men, scarce illumined by the candle, filled the den with shadows.
"Handcuff them all!" Javert cried.