The captain was not pleased with him, because he had no knowledge of business; as far as example went he was the worst forager in the whole regiment.

If a peasant's wife complained to him, he would leave empty-handed a house whose cellars were stocked with wine, and larders with hams one could smell a hundred yards off.

It was all the more provoking as he could speak French perfectly, an accomplishment which no one else in the regiment could, to the same extent, boast of.

It came even to a scene between him and the captain, who said angrily to him after a fruitless search in a new and well-to-do village in Champagne: "A good heart is a fine thing to have, but you are an officer now, and not a Sister of Mercy.

Our men have a right to eat, and if you want to be compassionate, our poor fellows want food just as much as those French peasants.