Although the woman had often noticed this, she had not hitherto been able to make much use of the circumstance. A custom-house officer, as a rule, only keeps one dog, and this fellow always had half-a-dozen, at least, in training, without reckoning a personal guard which he kept for himself and which was the fiercest of all. Consequently, any duel between some lover assisted by only one dog, and the dog-breaker defended by his pack, was impossible. But on that occasion, the chances were more equal. Just then he had only five dogs in the kennel, and two of them were quite young, though certainly old _Bourreau_[6] counted for several, but after all, they could risk a battle against him and the other three, with the two couples of the custom-house officer, and they must profit by the occasion. [Footnote 6: Executioner, hangman.] And one fine evening, as the brigadier of the custom-house officers was alone in the shop with Bistaud's wife and was squeezing her waist, she said to him abruptly: "Do you really want to have something to do with me, _Mossieu_[7] Fernand?" [Footnote 7: Vulgar for Monsieur.] He kissed her on the lips as he replied: "Do I really want to? I would give my stripes for it; so you see...." "Very well," she replied, "do as I tell you, and upon my word, as an honest woman, I will be your commodity to do what you like with." And laying a stress on that word _commodity_, which in that part of the country means mistress, she whispered hotly into his ear: "A commodity who knows her business, I can tell you, for my beast of a husband has trained me up in such a way that I am now absolutely disgusted with him." Fernand, who was much excited, promised her everything that she wished, and feverishly, malignantly, she told him how shamefully her husband had treated her a short time before, how her fair skin had been cut, told him her hatred and thirst for revenge; and the brigadier acquiesced, and that same evening he came to the cottage accompanied by his four hounds, with their spiked collars on. "What are you going to do with them?" "the man with the dogs" asked. "I have come to see whether you did not rob me when you sold them to me," the brigadier replied. "What do you mean by 'robbed you'?" "Well, robbed! I have been told that they could not tackle a dog like your _Bourreau_, and that many smugglers have dogs who are as good as he is." "Impossible." "Well, in case any of them should have one, I should like to see how the dogs that you sold me could tackle them."