"At twelve o'clock, exactly, I rang the bell, and she let me in herself. She had a lot of ribbons on her head. "'We must make haste,' she said; 'as my servant might come in.' "'I am quite willing to make haste,' I replied, 'but what am I to do?' "But she only laughed, and replied: 'Don't you understand, you great knowing fellow?' "I was no nearer her meaning, I give you my word of honor, Captain, but she came and sat down by me, and said: "'If you mention this to anyone, I will have you put in prison, so swear that you will never open your lips about it.' "I swore whatever she liked, though I did not at all understand what she meant, and my forehead was covered with perspiration, so I took my pocket-handkerchief out of my helmet, and she took it and wiped my brow with it; then she kissed me, and whispered: 'Then you will?' 'I will do anything you like, Madame,' I replied, 'as that is what I came for.' "Then she made herself clearly understood by her actions, and when I saw what it was, I put my helmet onto a chair, and showed her that in the dragoons a man never retires, Captain. "Not that I cared much about it, for she was certainly not in her prime, but it is no good being too particular in such a matter, as ten francs are scarce, and then I have relations whom I like to help, and I said to myself: 'There will be five francs for my father, out of that.' "When I had done my allotted task, Captain, I got ready to go, though she wanted me to stop longer, but I said to her: "'To everyone their due, Madame. A small glass of brandy costs two sous, and two glasses cost four.' "She understood my meaning, and put a gold ten-franc piece into my hand. I do not like that coin, because it is so small that if your pockets are not very well made, and come at all unsewn, one is apt to find it in one's boots, or not to find it at all, and so, while I was looking at it, she was looking at me. She got red in the face, as she had misunderstood my looks, and she said: 'Is not that enough?' "'I did not mean that, Madame,' I replied; 'but if it is all the same to you, I would rather have two five-franc pieces.' And she gave them to me, and I took my leave. This has been going on for a year and a half, Captain. I go every Tuesday evening, when you give me leave to go out of barracks; she prefers that, as her servant has gone to bed then, but last week I was not well, and I had to go into the infirmary. When Tuesday came, I could not get out, and I was very vexed, because of the ten francs which I had been receiving every week, and I said to myself: "'If anybody goes there, I shall be done; and she will be sure to take an artilleryman, and that made me very angry. So I sent for Paumelle, who comes from my part of the country, and I told him how matters stood: