"An officer."
"An officer! I beg your pardon."
"Yes, an amateur officer."
"Come up to my house; you must be in need of refreshment, and your men are thirsty. Aren't you, my friends?"
The men laughed.
"We are always more or less thirsty," one of them replied.
"Very well, I will send twenty-five bottles of wine and beer down to you," said the burgomaster. "Come in, M. Benedict!"
"Remember that my eye is upon you from the window," said Benedict, "and be careful."
"Be easy in your mind, captain," replied he who had spoken before.
"Madame Fellner," said the burgomaster on entering, "here is a captain of volunteers who is quartered on us. We must give him a worthy reception."