WAR PICTURES IN TIME OF PEACE. 29 



stop this unceremonious poaching on his master's preserves, 

 loudly protested, but to no apparent purpose, as the sergeant 

 sheathed his sabre (not made more glorious by the butcher s use 

 it had been put to), and calmly walked off with his prize. One 

 mess of " non-coms " had the addition of a succulent dish of 

 roast hare to their supper that night, and that was all there 

 was about it. 



Meanwhile the band had assembled, and the gay strains of 

 a quadrille from one of Offenbach's operas filled the air. Sets 

 were quickly formed, and in spite of the fatiguing march of the 

 morning and the mud and wet, the soldiers all over the fields 

 were dancing and kicking about, gay, good-humored, and frolick- 

 ing, dancing with a vim and enjoyment such as only Frenchmen 

 can exhibit. An hour passed amid such scenes, when the bugles 

 sounded. The men instantly fell in behind the stacks, knap- 

 sacks were slung, the piles of arms broken, and immediately the 

 utmost order and quiet reigned, where less than a minute before 

 everything had been confusion. The column moved into the 

 road, and we were again tramping through the mire towards 

 Yvetot. An hour or two of marching brought us to a little 

 village, a suburb of the town, where the advance of the infantry 

 which I had been accompanying halted, and I took leave of 

 them, pushing forward alone in search of quarters for the night. 

 The way led through a long, ugly street, bordered with unsight- 

 ly trees and small detached houses. I passed an occasional 

 cavalryman sitting on his horse at a street corner — for our 

 cavalry, moving ahead of us, had already occupied the town — 

 and in a few minutes reached the door of a comfortable hotel, 

 where I was fortunate enough to find a room. 



It was not long, however, before the main body of the troops 

 followed, and the air was full of the music of their bands as 

 regiment after regiment arrived and was dismissed. The troops 



