At noon we halted in the shade of the trees along the side of the highway. He took from his shoulder a packet which he had brought from the inn. In it were a lump of cheese and a length of hard bread. With as much deliberation as he could show, he took a dagger from his coat and wiped the blade two or three times over the knees of his trousers. Then he cut the cheese into squares and tore the bread into pieces with his hands. As though I were only an animal to be fed, he tossed them to me through the air. The first piece flew past me and fell into the dirt. The second landed at my feet. Another caught me in the chest and tumbled in between my folded hands. I was hungry, of course, but the manner of the man sickened me. So I sat there glaring into his face. He fell to with the appetite of a bear. He stuffed one lump after another between his teeth and shoved them into his mouth with his thumb. He gulped to swallow and that so hard that I thought he would choke. When he had eaten twice as much as an ordinary man he rose and threw what remained into my lap. “You should starve,” he said, “—you spy!” “I am no spy,” I declared. He made no answer but gave me a look that was filled with hate. I picked up the pieces that were clean and began to eat slowly. Thoughts of my home and of the comfort I had there started to run through my mind. A burning anger rose within me that I should be treated thus by a fellow who was no equal of mine—who should have been glad to run at my beck and call. Without a word of warning he came over and caught me by the collar. With a swift jerk he landed me on my feet. I was amazed at the suddenness of it and the enormous strength of the man. I was sure that he could have held me in the air with his outstretched arm as easily as I could have held a bundle of straw. We were on the road again, both going along in silence. During the afternoon, I noticed small groups of men, some clad as ordinary soldiers, some in finer dress like captains and officers, others on horseback with armor and coats of mail. I had seen the like before in the village at home to be sure, for in my day there was always war in this or that part of France to attract the minds of men. But what struck me was that these were all going in the same direction (towards the west); they all seemed bent on the same errand; and they were so numerous that I was set wondering. That night we found no place in an inn. The common room was crowded to the doors with swashbuckling soldiers of every kind. Loud talk and boasting filled the air, together with the clanking of swords, the thumping of heavy boots on the floor, the clamoring of men hungry for their supper, quarrels over this or that and even blows struck and returned.