to return at a double-quick. Ten minutes late, that is
four days in the _boite_. If passion carries thee away, my poor Pitou,
and if, with thy _pays_ Dumanet, thou 'jumpest the wall' after recall,
that will be _la grosse_. It is not gay, my friend, _la grosse_. A
_demi-fourniture_, two soups, 'one of which without meat' and, for an
aperative and digestive, the _peloton de chasse_, three hours in the
morning, three hours in the afternoon, the knapsack charged according to
the regulations. B-r-r-r!

"Believe me, youth, no _fredaines_.... Thou wilt be caught!"

Other writers who might be cited, more definite and unsparing in their
details, give unquotable descriptions of the nights in the _chambree_,
or great dormitories, the uncouth associates, the language, the manners,
the practical jokes, the quarrels, the hideous lack of ventilation at
night and the rancid odor of so many imperfectly washed bodies, cheap
tobacco, and soiled linen. Even M. de Noussanne is obliged to omit the
termination of one of his recitals of the amusements of the caserne:
"No; it is better to slide over this passage. The nude is difficult to
paint. This is a pity; it plays a very important _role_ in the
facetiousness of the caserne. Would you have another example?

"The evening call has sounded; the sous-officiers are at mess or
outside, and the men are preparing to go to sleep. All at once,
charivari in the adjoining chambree! The door opens, and two _lapins_,
clothed only in a sack ... on the back, enter, rifle in hand, fixed
bayonet, and in this picturesque costume parade round the room, leaping,
cavorting, howling, whilst their comrades roll in delicious enjoyment
of the joke." And he adds: "You amuse yourself the best way you can in
the regiment; for, it is only justice to say for it, the military
authority does nothing to render the caserne agreeable to the soldier.

"Whenever there is an officer who, having a care for the private comfort
of his men, looks after them outside of the service regulations and
brings himself in contact with them, he very quickly becomes a target
for the jests of his obliging little comrades who leave the club of the
_Caricature_ or the _Annuaire_ only to go and swing censers before
'Madame la Presidente,' who has a mania for match-making.

"Even if this officer be the commander of a corps d'armee, the whole of
France will badger him if he lays himself open ever so little to
criticism. Nevertheless, if it be tr