I privately agreed with him. Playoust secretly encouraged him, just to see what would happen. As for Guillaumin, he took the defaulters apart, and reasoned with them. I don't know what he preached or promised, but the fact was that he appeased them. He went off to see the captain and disarmed him too. The matter went no further. But that evening at mess he gave Playoust a bit of his mind. The latter, surrounded by his faithful satellites, answered back and had the last word. I had kept out of it. It was my turn next morning. I found the whole lot collected round the well, disputing violently. "What's up?" I asked. Descroix shouted: "Did you ever hear such a thing! This'll be the third day that the company has taken outpost duty." No. 1 platoon had just been told that it was their turn to supply No. 2 picket. They had been congratulating themselves upon getting out of it. Hence their rage! "Always the same lot to fork out." Playoust headed them: "It's disgustin' that's wot it is. There's the bally 21st there doin' nothing. Wy can't they send them?" I ventured to remark: "You've not been overdone so far." I laughed. "Outpost duty has its interesting moments." They fell upon me, and in such a tone! "Oh, Dreher ... on other people's worries...!" I retorted. There was a sudden torrent of bitter words, of almost injurious reproaches. Yes, yes, they had seen me at it! Then they brought up their eternal grievances at F----. Descroix accused me of toadying to the lieutenant. Oh! I turned on my heel. I was stupefied, sickened at this persistent animosity after our brotherly agape, the other day. What paltry minds they had! CHAPTER XVII DE VALPIC I had not seen much of De Valpic during the last few days. Our platoons had relieved each other, and his presence always weighed on me a little like a vague remorse. That afternoon I found him lying, with closed eyes, in the shed I had gone into, meaning to take a nap. He raised his eyelids: "Halloa!" I had to go up to him, and asked him: "Not so bad the other night, was it?" "For me it was." I joked. "For you particularly?" "Yes, I've got a cold already." He coughed. "Pooh!" I said rather abruptly. "As long as you've nothing worse than that the matter with you." I suddenly thought of him as a soft flabby creature, this tall fellow brought up by women. I think he guessed my thoughts. "If only I had not got such a high temperature!" he said. I shrugged my shoulders. "High temperature! Who said you'd got a high temperature?" I stretched myself on the straw, without much desire to continue conversation. He seemed to be searching in his pocket. I saw a sort of metallic tube between his fingers, which he unscrewed; then holding the thing out to me, said: "Here you are, just look at this will you?" He explained: "It's a mouth thermometer. I always carry it on me." "What an idea!"