in the corner." Oudarde looks and sees a pink baby's shoe. Then she begins to cry, too.
The two women leave the cake for Sachette and hurry to the Place de Grěve. They wait patiently with a large crowd of people until the prisoner, Quasimodo, arrives. Is the Hunchback of Notre-Dame the boy that the gypsies left in Agnes's bed sixteen years ago? Yesterday, he was the people's Pope of Fools and enjoyed his special day. Today, his hands and feet are tied and he waits for the King's torturer, Pierrat Torterue. When Torterue is ready, Quasimodo is tied to the great wooden wheel. The flogging begins when the church bell rings the hour.
The wheel turns and the torturer hits Quasimodo's back and shoulders with his short rope. Quasimodo jumps like a person surprised in his sleep. He tries to free himself, but he is tied too tightly to the wheel. The wheel continues to turn, and Torterue hits the hunchback again and again. Soon blood is running down Quasimodos back, and drops of it are flying into the air.
Quasimodo is quiet now and does not move. He does not understand why this is happening to him. Finally, the hour has ended and the torturer stops. His two assistants wash the blood from Quasimodo's back.
But Quasimodo's suffering has not ended.While he waits for his second hour of flogging, the people in the crowd shout at him. He cannot hear their words, but he can see their ugly faces. Then they begin to throw stones at him. Quasimodo stays quiet, but his face is red and angry.
Suddenly, he sees the one person who can help him. Quasimodo smiles sweetly because Father Claude Frollo is walking through the crowd. The priest comes near and his eyes meet Quasimodo's happy face. But Father Claude neither stops nor speaks. He looks at the ground and hurries away, and Quasimodo s smile disappears.
The second hour of flogging begins. Again, Quasimodo tries to free himself from the wheel, and the crowd shouts and laughs.
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