"What about Barefoot?" said Aurelle. "Couldn't he be made a captain?"
"Barefoot? That damned shopkeeper fellow whom Musgrave told me about? The man who wanted to introduce his methods into the army? He's a public danger, my boy! But I can propose your friend Major Baraquin for a C.M.G., if you like."
"Baraquin?" Aurelle exclaimed in
turn. "Why, he always refused everything you asked him for."
"Yes," said the colonel; "he's not very easy to get on with; he doesn't understand things; but he's a soldier, every inch of him! I like old Baraquin!"
CHAPTER V
THE STORY OF PRIVATE BIGGS
"La Nature fait peu de gens vaillants; c'est la bonne institution et la discipline."—Charron.
The new padre was a stout, artless man with a kind face. He was only just out from England, and delighted the general with his air of innocent surprise.
"What's making all that noise?" he asked.
"Our guns," said Colonel Parker.