d should send in meat and
bread and wine of the quality that they had guaranteed to supply.

Three officers were told off every day to examine the quality of all
food sent in; any reported as being bad was examined by Hector, and if
the complaint was well founded, was at once condemned. Great attention
was paid to the cooking, to the cleanliness of the barrack rooms, and
to many other details that had until then been entirely neglected. There
were at first some grumblers, not only among the men, but among the
officers as well; but the extraordinary and rapid improvement in the
efficiency of the regiment, its appearance and condition, was such that
these were not long in recognizing that although the work was hard, no
unnecessary labour was imposed upon them, while, as their knowledge of
drill increased the work became easier and less irksome. All recognized
that by far the hardest worker in the regiment was the colonel himself.
Every morning for the first month he himself drilled the officers in a
courtyard that was not overlooked, and when they all knew their work,
sent them to take charge of their companies. Until he considered the
officers competent, he drilled the companies by turn, and when drill was
over, made a tour of every room in the barracks, visited the kitchen,
and conversed freely with the men, listening to any complaints.

At first the number of men brought up for drunkenness was large. The
first offence he always condoned, giving the offender a lecture on
the folly of his conduct and of the discredit that it brought upon the
regiment. For the second offence a man was confined to barracks, and
forced to wear his coat inside out even at drill. The ridicule that the
men had to suffer was worse than any punishment inflicted upon them, and
no case occurred of a third offence. By turns the three officers of each
company dined with him, and, chatting with them as a friend, he not only
gained their liking but made himself acquainted with their individual
characters. Turenne came to Paris a short time after Hector assumed the
command of his regiment, and as soon as he heard of his arrival, the
latter called upon him.

"I heard from the cardinal of your good fortune," the viscount said,
"and congratulate you heartily upon it. Mazarin was good enough to
say that the discovery of the Spaniards' ambush was the result of my
teaching, and indeed I feel somewhat proud of my pupil. I am going to
the Rhine, as perhaps y