They went away, and while doing so Montparnasse muttered,—
"No matter; if you had been agreeable I would have cut her throat."
Babet replied,—
"I wouldn't; for I never strike a lady."
At the corner of the street they stopped, and exchanged in a low voice this enigmatical dialogue.
"Where shall we go and sleep to-night?"
"Under Pantin [Paris]."
"Have you your key about you, Thénardier?"
"Of course."
Éponine, who did not take her eyes off them, saw them return by the road along which they had come. She rose and crawled after them, along the walls and the houses. She followed them thus along the boulevard; there they separated, and she saw the six men bury themselves in the darkness, where they seemed to fade away.