“'What 's all this here?' cried he, pulling up short, while the barb sniffed the air, just as if he guessed what the meat was. 'Who has stolen this sheep?'
“'It is not a sheep, Général,' said I, stepping forward, and trying to hide the long ladle I was basting with.
“'Not a sheep; then it is an ox, mayhap, or a calf,” said he again, with an angry look.
“'Neither, Général,' said I; 'it was a—a—a beast of our division.'
“'A beast of your division! What does that mean? No trifling, mind! out with it at once. What's this? Where did it come from?'
“'An ass, may it please you, sir,' said I, trembling all over, for I saw he was in a rare passion. And as he repeated the word after me, I told him the whole story, and how we could not suffer such capital prog to be eaten by any other than good citizens of the Republic.
“While I was telling him so much, the rest stood round terrified; they could not even turn the joint, though it was burning; and, to say truth, I thought myself we were all in a bad way, when suddenly he burst into a fit of laughing, and said,—
“'What part of France do these fellows come from?'