We all exclaim—
"No, no! We have heard that tale already; you told it us the day before yesterday."
"Well," jeers Varlet, "it wasn't a joke then, and to-night it's a serious matter. Muster in twenty minutes. Get ready."
Thereupon we make a rush to our haversacks. Everything is scattered about: boots and suspenders, bed-clothes and tins of preserves. Everybody speaks at once.
"You're taking my belongings!"
"Look a little more carefully. Surely I know my own business!"
"We shall meet again in the trenches."
A couple of hours will surely be insufficient to restore order out of such chaos. All the same, twenty minutes after the arrival of the messenger of woe, we have rejoined the section, fully armed and equipped, perspiring and out of breath, though not forgetting a single pin.
Our hosts are at the door. The old dame is heartbroken. She keeps repeating—