5. Dance of the Infirm

DANCE OF THE INFIRM
Gringoire finds himself on a deserted street. There are a number of infirm hobbling beggars moving along the street in the same direction as he. Many of them were in the square begging earlier. One is a hunchback, and Gringoire at first thinks it is the one who throttled him earlier.
A violin/oboe theme plays while Gringoire cautiously investigates this bent and twisted crew. Two clarinets then play the theme as Gr. dances confidently among the cripples. As the brass play the hunchback takes off his hump, the one-legged man turns out to have two legs, and the blind man can see.
It turns out that these are thieves who have feigned being crippled in the square in order to pick pockets. And Gr. has stumbled upon the entrance to their secret den. Now he is scared as the strings take over the theme and the cripples dance around him.
At the end they disappear one by one through a hidden door into their hiding place, dragging G. along with them into the den.