Moreover, the wine shop down below and the first-floor room connected with it flared with gas, and were already crowded with noisy customers, waiting for the performance to begin.
“I hardly like to go and knock at Mege’s door,” said Pierre.
“No, no, you must not do so!” replied Guillaume.
“Let us go into the wine shop. We may perhaps be able to see something from the balcony.”
The first-floor room was provided with a very large balcony, which women and gentlemen were already filling. The brothers nevertheless managed to reach it, and for a few minutes remained there, peering into the darkness before them. The sloping street grew broader between the two prisons, the “great” and the “little” Roquette, in such wise as to form a sort of square, which was shaded by four clumps of plane-tree
