So I kept silence. I could have wished him--well, in worse company; I grew more and more indignant at every morsel which he swallowed in silence. Nevertheless Sorlé's example encouraged me to put a good face on the matter, and toward the end I thought, "Now, since the dinner is eaten, since it is almost over, we will go on, with God's help. Sorlé was mistaken, but it is all the same; her idea was a good one, except for such a rascal!" And I myself ordered coffee; I went to the closet, too, to get some cherry-brandy and old rum. "What is that?" asked the sergeant. "Rum and cherry-brandy; old cherry-brandy from the 'Black Forest,'" I replied. "Ah," said he, winking, "everybody says, 'I have got some cherry-brandy from the Black Forest!' It is very easy to say; but they can't cheat Sergeant Trubert; we will see about this!" In taking his coffee he twice filled his glass with cherry-brandy, and both times said, "He! he! We will see whether it is genuine." I could have thrown the bottle at his head. As Sorlé went to him to pour a third glassful, he rose and said, "That is enough; thank you! The posts are doubled. This evening I shall be on guard at the French gate. The dinner, to be sure, was not a bad one. If you give me such now and then, we can get along with each other." He did not smile, and, indeed, seemed to be ridiculing us. "We will do our best, Mr. Sergeant," replied Sorlé, while he went into his room and took his great-coat to go out. "We will see," said he as he went downstairs, "we will see!" Till now I had said nothing, but when he was down I exclaimed, "Sorlé, never, no never, was there such a rascal! We shall never get along with this man. He will drive us all from the house." "Bah! bah! Moses," she replied, laughing, "I do not think as thou dost! I have quite the contrary idea; we will be good friends, thou'lt see, thou'lt see!" "God grant it!" I said; "but I have not much hope of it." She smiled as she took off the table-cloth, and gave me too a little confidence, for this woman had a good deal of shrewdness, and I acknowledged her sound judgment. VII SERGEANT TRUBERT IN A NEW LIGHT You see, Fritz, what the common people had to endure in those days. Ah, well! just as we were performing extra service, while Monborne was commanding me at the drilling, while Sergeant Trubert was down upon me, while we were hearing of domiciliary visits of inspection to ascertain what provisions the citizens had--in the midst of all this, my dozen pipes of spirits of wine were being slowly wheeled over the road. How I repented of having ordered them! How often I could have torn my hair as I thought that half my thirty years' gains were at the mercy of circumstances! How I prayed for the Emperor! How I ran every morning to the coffee-houses and ale-houses to learn the news, and how I trembled as I read!