"Some preparation—what!—in spite of all they say!"
We soon found what we wanted, all that is, except him, whose arms were so long as to be out of all proportion.
We laughed at his build, resembling that of a monkey.
"First-rate for bayonet work!" he retorted.
We were ready. The quartermaster brought us a dozen men.
"The first batch!"
A nice business this: these two hundred fellows to fit out! They all kept coming out of turn. And they weren't a bit easy to manage, as they did not care a rap for us! And then how nice and easy it was to find one's way about among these marks. M III, G II, E IV...! A foul dust flew out of the piles of clothing which were lying about, out of the heaps of caps which had come undone.... And the stink of these people in their shirt-sleeves!... Heavens! I did the best thing I could do under the circumstances, and bolted surreptitiously.
Having got over the railings I saluted a couple standing on the pavement, hand-in-hand. Little Frémont and his wife whom I thought insignificant-looking. I went on, but was not displeased at the idea of his being in the 22nd; one more pleasant comrade.
I did not reappear in quarters until evening. Guillaumin at once warned me charitably to look out! I was marked! Descroix and Humel had soon noticed my disappearance and had made no bones about reporting me. The quartermaster had stormed and raged; a regular hullabaloo!