boom smash and rattle, and the furious sounding of the living sea;
but, still the deep ditch, and the single drawbridge, and the
massive stone walls, and the eight great towers, and still Defarge
of the wine-shop at his gun, grown doubly hot by the service of
four fierce hours.
A white flag from within the fortress, and a parleythis dimly
perceptible through the raging storm, nothing audible in it
suddenly the sea rose immeasurably, wider and higher, and swept
Defarge of the wine-shop over the lowered drawbridge, past the
massive stone outer walls, in among the eight great towers
surrendered!
So resistless was the force of the ocean bearing him on, that
even to draw his breath or turn his head was as impracticable as if
he had been struggling in the surf at the South Sea, until he was
landed in the outer courtyard of the Bastille. There, against an
angle of a wall, he made a struggle to look about him. Jacques
Three was nearly at his side; Madame Defarge, still heading some
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
of her women, was visible in the inner distance, and her knife was
in her hand. Everywhere was tumult, exultation, deafening and
maniacal bewilderment, astounding noise, yet furious dumb-show.
“The Prisoners!”
“The Records!”
“The secret cells!”
“The instruments of torture!”
“The Prisoners!”