A nice business this: these two hundred fellows to fit out! They all kept coming out of turn. And they weren't a bit easy to manage, as they did not care a rap for us! And then how nice and easy it was to find one's way about among these marks. M III, G II, E IV...! A foul dust flew out of the piles of clothing which were lying about, out of the heaps of caps which had come undone.... And the stink of these people in their shirt-sleeves!... Heavens! I did the best thing I could do under the circumstances, and bolted surreptitiously. Having got over the railings I saluted a couple standing on the pavement, hand-in-hand. Little Frémont and his wife whom I thought insignificant-looking. I went on, but was not displeased at the idea of his being in the 22nd; one more pleasant comrade. I did not reappear in quarters until evening. Guillaumin at once warned me charitably to look out! I was marked! Descroix and Humel had soon noticed my disappearance and had made no bones about reporting me. The quartermaster had stormed and raged; a regular hullabaloo! "What does it matter!" I interrupted. I saw, however, that there was a certain amount of danger in allowing a hostile clan to form itself at the very beginning. I went into the little room reserved for us. I found Descroix in his shirt-sleeves, and offered him a cigarette, which he accepted. Humel came back, and we joked. Neither of them uttered a word about the afternoon's occurrence. However, the quartermaster-sergeant came to tell me, in a tone that I did not half like, that I had been warned for orderly duty at the gates. "Who detailed me?" "The sergeant-major." The others were chuckling inwardly. I made the best of a bad job. All right! My turn would come in time no doubt! I was looking for the necessary equipment when a counter order arrived. The guard would be drawn entirely from the 23rd to-day. Still better! I went out calmly, taking Guillaumin with me. Frémont had vanished. We met De Valpic: "Are you coming to dine with us?" He excused himself. Not this evening, he preferred to rest. Rest after what? His refusal shocked me. If he was going to refuse to associate with us, he would have to be taken down a peg. CHAPTER XIII KNOCKS AND CONTACTS Each morning, for the next three days, we got part of our equipment. The quality of the leather goods was excellent, the arms were in first-rate order, the linen clean and of a kind to wear well. There were some details not up to the mark, the haversacks were only moderately good, most of the water-bottles leaked or smelt bad. Bouillon, however, got me all I wanted in the way of new things, and it was, thanks to him too, that the battalion cobbler deigned to put nails into my boots. In the afternoons my only idea was to "leg it."