I am
not worth much; only, mark my words, don't begin again, for, curse it--I
shan't."
The captain embraced him, and when he had entered the house the major
stood a moment before the closed door to make certain that he had gone
upstairs to bed. Then as midnight was striking and the rain was still
belaboring the dark town, he slowly turned homeward. The thought of
his men almost broke his heart, and, stopping short, he said aloud in a
voice full of compassion:
"Poor devils! what a lot of cow beef they'll have to swallow for those
two thousand francs!"
CHAPTER III
AGAIN?
The regiment was altogether nonplused: Petticoat Burle had quarreled
with Melanie. When a week had elapsed it became a proved and undeniable
fact; the captain no longer set foot inside the Cafe de Paris, where the
chemist, it was averred, once more reigned in his stead, to the profound
sorrow of the retired magistrate. An even more incredible statement was
that Captain Burle led the life of a recluse in the Rue des Recollets.
He was becoming a reformed character; he spent his evenings at his own
fireside, hearing little Charles repeat his lessons. His mother, who
had never breathed a word to him of his manipulations with Gagneux,
maintained her old severity of demeanor as she sat opposite to him
in her armchair, but her looks seemed to imply that she believed him
reclaimed.
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