paste.

"A pretty pickle we are in!" he continued. "We had food in plenty, and
now here we are, without a crumb! Ah! you are a pair of dirty pigs!"

At that moment the first sergeant's call was heard, and Sergeant
Sapin, returning presently with his usual doleful air, informed the
men that it would be impossible to distribute rations that evening,
and that they would have to content themselves with what eatables they
had on their persons. It was reported that the trains had been delayed
by the bad weather, and as to the herds, they must have straggled off
as a result of conflicting orders. Subsequently it became known that
on that day the 5th and 12th corps had got up to Rethel, where the
headquarters of the army were established, and the inhabitants of the
neighboring villages, possessed with a mad desire to see the Emperor,
had inaugurated a hegira toward that town, taking with them everything
in the way of provisions; so that when the 7th corps came up they
found themselves in a land of nakedness: no bread, no meat, no people,
even. To add to their distress a misconception of orders had caused
the supplies of the commissary department to be directed on
Chene-Populeux. This was a state of affairs that during the entire
campaign formed the despair of the wretched commissaries, who had to
endure the abuse and execrations of the whole army, while their sole
fault lay in being punctual at rendezvous at which the troops failed
to appear.

"It serves you right, you dirty pigs!" continued Jean in his wrath,
"and you don't deserve the trouble that I am going to have in finding
you something to eat, for I suppose it is my duty not to let you
starve, all the same." And he started off to see what he could find,