but if we
wished, she might introduce the _vivandiere_ of the regiment,
stationed in the chateau, who would supply our meals twice a day from
the mess of the petty officers.

My money had not been seriously moth-eaten during our previous
confinement, so that I did not hesitate to strike a bargain with
Madame Sorret, and to request that _la vivandiere_ might make her
appearance on the theatre of action as soon as possible. Presently,
the door opened again, and the dame reappeared accompanied by two
Spanish women, wives of musicians in the corps, who had heard that
several of their countrymen had that morning been incarcerated, and
availed themselves of the earliest chance to visit and succor them.

For the thousandth time I blessed the noble heart that ever beats in
the breast of a Spanish woman when distress or calamity appeals, and
at once proceeded to arrange the diet of our future prison life. We
were to have two meals a day of three dishes, for each of which we
were to pay fifteen _sous in advance_. The bargain made, we sat down
on the floor for a chat.

My brace of Catalan visitors had married in this regiment when the
Duke d'Angouleme marched his troops into Spain; and like faithful
girls, followed their husbands in all their meanderings about France
since the regiment's return. As two of my officers were Catalonians by
birth, a friendship sprang up like wildfire between us, and from that
hour, these excellent women not only visited us daily, but ran our
errands, attended to our health, watched us like sisters, and procured
all those little comforts which the tender soul of the sex can alone
devise.

I hope that few of my readers have personal knowledge of the treatment
or fare of civil prisons in the provinces of France during the
republican era of which I am writing. I think it well to set down a
record of its barbarity.

As I before said, the _regular ration_ consisted exclusively of black
bread and water. Nine pounds of straw were allowed weekly to each
prisoner for his _lair_. Neither blankets nor covering were furnished,
even in the winter, and as the cells are built without stoves or
chimneys, the wretched convicts were compelled to huddle together in
heaps to keep from perishing. Besides this, the government denied all
supplies of fresh raiment, so that the wretches who were destitute of
friends or means, were alive and hideous with vermin in a few days
after incarceration. No amusement was allowed