Gavroche huddled in an alley, nursing a loaf of bread.

A whole loaf, he thought happily. A whole loaf all to myself!

He carefully bit off a chunk of the still-warm bread, his eyes glazing over at the wonderful taste of it. He ate some more, and too soon the bread was gone; however, the gnawing hunger in his stomach was not.

Not ready to leave his hiding place, Gavroche glanced out into the square. He had chosen a good spot to watch and wait for the baker to calm down; the square in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral was always busy, and no one bothered to look in the alleyways.

"Down with the government!" a man cried. He was standing on a table, or perhaps it was a soapbox, and giving a speech across from the cathedral. His blond hair glimmered in the sunlight.

Interested, Gavroche turned his attention to the man. He was still speaking, but the gamin could hardly hear him. In fact, Gavroche was too far away to hear anything but mumbling. He was about to crawl out of his spot to get a closer look when the baker's wife came by, looking in all the crevasses, mumbling about the stupid little urchins who ran the streets wild. He dodged back into the alley and turned his attention back on the man as best he could.

The man was quiet now; he seemed to be listening to another man in the crowd around him ask something. Then the first man responded, his voice beginning softly, and ending in a near shout. This got the attention of a couple policemen standing outside the cathedral. They marched over to the crowd, and began pushing through the mob.

Just before they got to the man, a big burly fellow stopped them. He towered a good six inches higher than the taller of the two, and he very gently pushed them back in warning. Several more policemen, who had been stationed around the square, joined the two.

"Hey!"

A harsh whisper caused Gavroche to spin around. He recognized the young man immediately. "Parnasse"

"What's up?" Montparnasse asked. "What's the fuss in there?"

"A brawl," Gavroche responded happily. "They're going t'have a brawl, with the cognes and everything!"

Montparnasse grinned. "Think any of 'em have money"

"Some of 'em are dressed fine, that's for certain"
Montparnasse nodded. "Excellent." He vanished into the shadows of the alley, and it was hardly a minute later when Gavroche saw several men exit another alley, much closer to the mob.

He smiled. Gavroche loved a brawl.

Soon the argument between the burly fellow and the policemen turned to shoving. The big man let out a shout that probably could have been heard in England, and threw a punch. Suddenly, the crowd of men was a mass of bodies in the center of the square. Men ran in and joined the fight, and urchins rushed around the edges, kicking and shouting and picking up the occasional coin.

Gavroche grinned. He wasn't one to miss out on a fight. He ran out of the alleyway, and in moments he had joined the other gamins and was happily yelling with the rest of them.