“My good Madame Bajot,--I have been in the lock-. up for four days. I have not a penny nor even a morsel of tobacco to put in my pipe. I entreat you to send me six sous’ worth of tobacco--and a quart of brandy--for I am very thirsty--through my comrade, and in a little bottle on account of the corporal. By so doing you will save my life, and I will settle your bill next pay-day. Let the tobacco be very dry and of the best quality. “Be assured of my eternal gratitude, “Brulard, “Of the 1st Division, 3d Squadron.” The excellent woman shudders on contemplating the prisoner’s privations, and sends him the tobacco and brandy. Moreover, if a trooper be sick or wounded, though not sufficiently to be sent to the hospital, she nurses him, dresses his wound, and prepares the _tisane_, for which she will never accept any pay. If the cantinière is ugly, no one thinks of criticising her. It is her right, and no one even perceives it; but if she is pretty, it is a very different matter. She makes havoc in the regiment, and all the young conscripts are speedily subjugated by her conquering charms. It is an old trooper’s axiom, that the goodness of the wine is in an inverse ratio to the beauty of the cantinière. She has a little wagon drawn by one or two horses. It is in this equipage that she follows the troops, and appears upon the parade ground, where she dispenses tobacco and liquors to the officers and men in the intervals of rest during the drill. During a campaign she devotes herself to her regiment. More than once in the thickest of the fight she has been seen going from rank to rank to carry a drop to the soldiers, and braving the canister and grape in order to give a little water to the wounded. She keeps no accounts at such times; she does not sell, she gives. Several cantinières have been decorated, and the exploits of one of their number have been related throughout Europe. They have formed the plot of a drama which delineates all the characteristics of “the soldier’s mother,” under the title of “The Vivandière of the Grand Army.” THE BARBER OF THE SQUADRON. As a general thing, it is upon the cheeks of his brother soldiers that he serves his apprenticeship--a severe apprenticeship for the cheeks! Heaven preserve you from ever falling into his clutches and testing his dexterity. In former years, before entering the service, he was a carpenter, a mechanic, or a stone-cutter;--his good conduct elevated him to the important position of barber, and since that time he has plied in turn the scissors and razor with more zeal than discretion. This office of barber is one of the most popular in the regiment; and the person who holds it is not a little proud of the honor. First of all, he has a right to exact a small monthly payment from each soldier; he also enjoys perfect freedom after ten o’clock; in short, he is excused from all drudgery, and most of the exercises. And yet his position is no sinecure.