“‘I would do what I did more times than once when I roamed alone. Now, boys, this is the way.
“‘When a wretch will not squeak you must quietly light a wisp of straw between his legs, and if that does not loosen his tongue prick the soles of his feet with a fork, and scorch them.
“‘He must be very hardened to endure that without squeaking.
“‘If you have to do with a young married couple singe the wife in presence of her husband, or the husband in presence of his wife.
“‘It is not always that the singed one speaks first.’
“A less cruel but very important character among us was Baptiste, the surgeon.
“He was amusing, and the Merry Andrew of the gang.
“This Figaro of the treadmill handled the cups and cards as cleverly as he did the lancet and razor.
“This harmless pursuit gained him ready admittance to the farmhouses, where he bled patients for fivepence and a plateful of hashed meat.
“Every branch of industry has its brokers and warehousemen.