Half a century ago，in that ordinary，popular tongue，which is all compounded of traditions，which persists in calling the Institut les Quatre-Nations，and the Opera-Comique Feydeau，the precise spot whither Jean Valjean had arrived was called le Petit Picpus.The Porte Saint-Jacques，the Porte Paris，the Barriere des Sergents，the Porcherons，la Galiote，les Celestins，les Capucins，le Mail，la Bourbe，l'Arbre de Cracovie，la Petite-Pologne——these are the names of old Paris which survive amid the new.
The memory of the populace hovers over these relics of the past.
Le Petit-Picpus，which，moreover，hardly ever had any existence，and never was more than the outline of a quarter，had nearly the monkish aspect of a Spanish town.
The roads were not much paved；the streets were not much built up.
With the exception of the two or three streets，of which we shall presently speak，all was wall and solitude there.
Not a shop，not a vehicle，hardly a candle lighted here and there in the windows；all lights extinguished after ten o'clock.Gardens，convents，timber-yards，marshes；occasional lowly dwellings and great walls as high as the houses.
Such was this quarter in the last century.
The Revolution snubbed it soundly.
The republican government demolished and cut through it.Rubbish shoots were established there.
Thirty years ago，this quarter was disappearing under the erasing process of new buildings.To-day，it has been utterly blotted out.
The Petit-Picpus，of which no existing plan has preserved a trace，is indicated with sufficient clearness in the plan of 1727，published at Paris by Denis Thierry，Rue Saint-Jacques，opposite the Rue du Platre；and at Lyons，by Jean Girin，Rue Merciere，at the sign of Prudence.Petit-Picpus had，as we have just mentioned，a Y of streets，formed by the Rue du Chemin-Vert-Saint-Antoine，which spread out in two branches，taking on the left the name of Little Picpus Street，and on the right the name of the Rue Polonceau.The two limbs of the Y were connected at the apex as by a bar；this bar was called Rue Droit-Mur.The Rue Polonceau ended there；Rue Petit-Picpus passed on，and ascended towards the Lenoir market.A person coming from the Seine reached the extremity of the Rue Polonceau，and had on his right the Rue Droit-Mur，turning abruptly at a right angle，in front of him the wall of that street，and on his right a truncated prolongation of the Rue Droit-Mur，which had no issue and was called the Cul-de-Sac Genrot.
It was here that Jean Valjean stood.
As we have just said，on catching sight of that black silhouette standing on guard at the angle of the Rue Droit-Mur and the Rue Petit-Picpus，he recoiled.
There could be no doubt of it.That phantom was lying in wait for him.
What was he to do？
The time for retreating was passed.
That which he had perceived in movement an instant before，in the distant darkness，was Javert and his squad without a doubt.
Javert was probably already at the commencement of the street at whose end Jean Valjean stood.Javert，to all appearances，was acquainted with this little labyrinth，and had taken his precautions by sending one of his men to guard the exit.
These surmises，which so closely resembled proofs，whirled suddenly，like a handful of dust caught up by an unexpected gust of wind，through Jean Valjean's mournful brain.He examined the Cul-de-Sac Genrot；there he was cut off.He examined the Rue Petit-Picpus；there stood a sentinel.
He saw that black form standing out in relief against the white pavement，illuminated by the moon；to advance was to fall into this man's hands；to retreat was to fling himself into Javert's arms.
Jean Valjean felt himself caught，as in a net，which was slowly contracting；he gazed heavenward in despair.
BOOK FIFTH.——FOR A BLACK HUNT，A MUTE PACK
Ⅳ THE GROPINGS OF FLIGHT
In order to understand what follows，it is requisite to form an exact idea of the Droit-Mur lane，and，in particular，of the angle which one leaves on the left when one emerges from the Rue Polonceau into this lane.
Droit-Mur lane was almost entirely bordered on the right，as far as the Rue Petit-Picpus，by houses of mean aspect；on the left by a solitary building of severe outlines，composed of numerous parts which grew gradually higher by a story or two as they approached the Rue Petit-Picpus side；so that this building，which was very lofty on the Rue Petit-Picpus side，was tolerably low on the side adjoining the Rue Polonceau.
There，at the angle of which we have spoken，it descended to such a degree that it consisted of merely a wall.
This wall did not abut directly on the Street；it formed a deeply retreating niche，concealed by its two corners
from two observers who might have been，one in the Rue Polonceau，the other in the Rue Droit-Mur.
Beginning with these angles of the niche，the wall extended along the Rue Polonceau as far as a house which bore the number 49，and along the Rue Droit-Mur，where the fragment was much shorter，as far as the gloomy building which we have mentioned and whose gable it intersected，thus forming another retreating angle in the street.This gable was sombre of aspect；only one window was visible，or，to speak more correctly，two shutters covered with a sheet of zinc and kept constantly closed.
The state of the places of which we are here giving a description is rigorously exact，and will certainly awaken a very precise memory in the mind of old inhabitants of the quarter.
The niche was entirely filled by a thing which resembled a colossal and wretched door；it was a vast，formless assemblage of perpendicular planks，the upper ones being broader than the lower，bound together by long transverse strips of iron.At one side there was a carriage gate of the ordinary dimensions，and which had evidently not been cut more than fifty years previously.
A linden-tree showed its crest above the niche，and the wall was covered with ivy on the side of the Rue Polonceau.