“It is with great regret that I have just heard of your intended departure, and the arrival of a new purveyor-in-chief.” “I assure you that I have had quite enough of Scutari and its bother, and much prefer the London fog to the bright sun of the East and its accessory annoyances. The fact is, I was only here _pro tem._, till some one could be permanently appointed, but I did not expect to be recalled so early. Yesterday I received my _feuille de route_, as you call it in French, from the War Office. I hope to have the pleasure of introducing you to Mr. Robertson, my successor, to-morrow, and the day after I shall probably be off.” “I shall start a few days after you, but not exactly in the same direction.” “Where are you going, Monsieur Soyer?” “Why, are you not aware that Miss Nightingale, Mr. Bracebridge, and myself are going on Saturday next to the Crimea?” “Oh, that’s right! Some one was saying you would not go to the camp.” “What could make them say so? Not fear on my part--for of that I never dream; besides, our lives are more in danger here in the hospital than in the open air. The observation I made to the Minister-at-War, respecting the camp, was this,--that unless I could invent a cooking apparatus for the army to supersede the tin kettles I had seen at Chobham, it would be useless to attempt to teach the men to cook. An officer who happened to be present observed, ‘You’re right. Monsieur Soyer; they appear very unfit for a heavy company.--I have remarked that myself.’ By-the-bye, have you seen the French canteens--_marmites_, as they call them? They are very superior, and much larger than ours, besides being made of better metal. One soldier is, however, required to cook for every sixteen men with them, and they present the same difficulty with respect to open-air cooking.[11] This is especially the case on a long march--while those stoves, the model of which I had submitted to the War Office, were quite free from any such inconvenience.” “They will be ordered,” said Mr. Milton, “as soon as they are approved of by the Crimean authorities.” “I am glad to hear you say so; but my greatest anxiety now, Mr. Milton, is to see the new purveyor-in-chief, and have a fair understanding with him, so that during my absence he may not undo what you and I have so successfully commenced.” “You may depend upon it that I shall advise him for the best on that subject,” said Mr. Milton.