“No.”

“Nor a scamp with the air of an old red tail?”

“No.”

“As for the fourth, no one sees him, not even his adjutants, clerks, and employees. It is not surprising that you did not see him.”

“No. Who are all those persons?” asked Marius.

The inspector answered:⁠—

“Besides, this is not the time for them.”

He relapsed into silence, then resumed:⁠—

“50⁠–⁠52. I know that barrack. Impossible to conceal ourselves inside it without the artists seeing us, and then they will get off simply by countermanding the vaudeville. They are so modest! An audience embarrasses them. None of that, none of that. I want to hear them sing and make them dance.”