but there was nothing in the coach with him , and he had nothing on his person save his clothes and what was in his pockets , this consisting , after a hasty inventory , of a handful of coins , a used handkerchief - the one joan had given back to him , in fact , and he crumpled it tightly in one hand - a tinder-box , a mangled paper spill , a stub of sealing-wax , and a small stone he 'd picked up in the street , pinkish with a yellow stripe - perhaps he could improvise a sling with the handkerchief , he thought wildly , and paste the comte in the forehead with the stone , a la david and goliath .