ved flies! The spider shall not--' Unfortunately
Gringalet jumped up at this moment, and did not see the end of his
dream; but yet he was at first somewhat assured, and said to himself,
'Perhaps the golden fly with the diamond dart would have killed the
spider if I had finished the dream.' But in vain did Gringalet
endeavour to make himself easy and take comfort; in proportion as the
night ended, his fears renewed, so strongly, that at last he forgot his
dream, or, rather, he only remembered the portion which affrighted him,
the large web in which he had been caught and enfolded by the spider
which resembled Cut-in-Half. You may imagine what a fright he was in;
only think--only think--alone,--quite alone, and no one to defend him!
In the morning, when he saw daybreak gradually appear through the
skylight of the cock-loft, his fears redoubled, and the moment was at
hand when he would be alone with Cut-in-Half. He then threw himself on
his knees in the middle of the garret, and, weeping bitterly, entreated
his comrades to ask Cut-in-Half to forgive him, or else to help him to
escape if possible. But some from fear of their master, others from
disregard, and some from ill nature, refused what poor Gringalet
requested so earnestly."

"Young scamps!" said the prisoner in the blue cap; "he is to be pitied,
so helpless. If he could have defended himself, tooth and nail, it would
have been very different, _ma foi!_ If you have fangs, show 'em, boy,
and defend your tail!"

"To be sure!" said several prisoners.

"Holloa, there!" exclaimed the Skeleton, unable to conceal his rage, and
addressing the Blue Cap; "won't you hold your jaw? Didn't I say silence
in the stone-jug? Am I captain of the ward or not?"

The Blue Cap's answer was to look the Skeleton full in the face, and
then make that low-lived gesture of the blackguards, which consists in
applying the thumb of the right hand to the end of the nose, opening the
fingers like a fan, and putting the little finger on the thumb of the
left hand, similarly extended. He accompanied this mute reply with so
odd a look that many of the prisoners laughed heartily, whilst others,
on the contrary, were actually stupefied at the audacity of the new
prisoner, so greatly was the Skeleton feared. The latter shook his fist
at the new prisoner, and said to him, grinding his teeth:

"We'll settle this to-morrow!"

"I'll make the calculation on your nob! I'll put down seventeen and
carry n