"I'm sorry, I don't have any information about her. Isn't she in your cathedral?" asks Gringoire.
"Yes, that's correct. But Judge Robert d'Estouteville has ordered the King's Guard to get her out of the church. She'll be hanged in three days. She saved your life. Don't you want to help her?" asks the priest.
"It's true—she did save my life," says the writer. "But there's nothing I can do for her. I don't want them to hang me, too."
"You're friends with the thieves and gypsies. Can't they help?" suggests the priest.
He clearly has an idea in his head, but Pierre Gringoire does not notice this.
Gringoire stops and thinks for a minute. "Yes... they're fine people and they love Esmeralda. Maybe they can attack the cathedral and save her. And the goat, of course. I'll ask them to do it tomorrow evening. It's a good plan, isn't it?"
"A very good plan, but listen to me," the priest says coldly. "Find out everything about the attack and come to me tomorrow with this information. You aren't a soldier. But while they're fighting, you and I will help your poor wife."
That evening, Pierre Gringoire meets with the King of Thieves and tells him about his plan. The king is happy to help Esmeralda, and to help himself, too. If the thieves get inside the old church at night, they will not only find the girl, but also the cathedral's gold and silver. The thieves and gypsies quickly prepare for the attack.
At midnight on the following day, the King of Thieves calls his people together. "Our sister, Esmeralda, is alive and safe, but in the morning the King's Guard will come for her. They want to hang her tomorrow at noon in the Place de Grěve. Follow me and we'll save her!"
A great crowd of thieves and gypsies follow the king silently through the dark streets of the capital to Notre-Dame. They are carrying knives, sticks, and all kinds of tools.
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At the same time, Quasimodo is walking through the great church. He cannot sleep. He has locked the big door and has checked every corner of Notre-Dame. Esmeralda is sleeping safely in her little room, but the hunchback feels nervous for some reason. Is there a new danger in the world outside the cathedral? Will Father Claude try to hurt Esmeralda again?
Since his attack on Esmeralda, the priest has stayed away from the girl's little room. But he has acted badly toward Quasimodo. He has given him more work and sometimes he even hits him. Quasimodo is patient and follows the priests orders. He will not make any trouble for Father Claude, but he watches him. The hunchback will stop him if he goes near Esmeralda. But the priest has not been near her room again.
Quasimodo climbs to the top of the north tower as the party of thieves and gypsies comes closer. With his one good eye, he sees them moving toward Notre-Dame. The bellringer is afraid now. Why are they coming toward him and toward Esmeralda? He imagines that the people of Paris hate her as much as they hate him.
Quasimodo thinks quickly. He cannot escape from the church with the gypsy girl, so he will fight. Some workers have been in the south tower and he runs there. He will use their heavy tools, their wood, their stones, and their metal to stop his enemies.
He looks out and sees the crowd of people arrive at the great door.
"Our sister is not a murderer!" the King of Thieves shouts. "Give her to us or we will break the doors of this church. We will take her and your gold!"
Quasimodo cannot hear these words. He believes that these people are Esmeralda's enemies. When they attack the great doors, the hunchback begins to throw the heavy builders' material on their heads. He kills a great number of the thieves and gypsies, but they continue to fight.They find ladders and begin to climb up the
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