‘That’s all right,’ said Corporal Greenstreet hastily. ‘I’ll get some other bugger for the bloody guard, if there is a guard. I’ve ’ad no orders yet.’

‘It’s just as well to take the possibility into consideration,’ said Bourne; ‘but mind you, you would do it just as well on your own, without me.’

‘Come on. You parlez-vous to the old woman,’ said Corporal Greenstreet, and hurried him through the house into the forefront of the battle, which was the kitchen. Madame was a very neat and competent-looking woman, and she faced Bourne with her two daughters acting as supports immediately behind her. Bourne got through the preliminary politesses with a certain amount of credit. She had already understood that the corporals required her assistance in some way, but they had failed apparently to make matters clear.

‘Qu’est-ce que ces messieurs désirent?’ she inquired of Bourne, coming to the point with admirable promptitude, and when he explained matters they launched into a discussion on ways and means. Then Bourne turned to Corporal Greenstreet.

‘I suppose it is pukka that we stay here two nights, is it?’

‘That’s accordin’ to present plans. Of course you can’t be certain of anything in the bloody army. Does it make any differ to ’er?’

‘Not much,’ said Bourne. ‘You can have grilled fillet of steak with fried onions, and chips and beans, or you can have a couple of chickens. I am wondering what sort of sweet you can have.’

‘Could we ’ave a suet puddin’ wi’ treacle?’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ said Bourne reflectively. ‘I don’t think the French use suet much in cooking, and anyway I don’t know the French for suet, if they do. Suif is lard, I think. Could you pinch a tin of pozzy out of stores? Then you might have a sweet omelette with jam in it. Perhaps it would be better to buy some decent jam, you don’t want plum and apple, do you? Only I want to make the money go as far as possible. I like those little red currants in syrup which used to come from Bar-le-Duc’

‘Get ’em. I don’t care a fuck where they come from. We don’t want any bloody plum an’ apple when we can get better. An’ don’t you worry about the money, not in reason anyway. They’ve only let us come ’ere for a couple of days to ’ave a bon time before they send us up into the shit again. Might just as well get all we can, while we can.’

Bourne turned to Madame again, and asked her if she would do the marketing for them, and the upshot of it was that they both agreed to go together. Bourne turned to Corporal Green-street and asked him about money.

‘Will it do if we all put twenty francs into the kitty to start with?’

‘I don’t think I shall want so much: give me ten each, and if that isn’t enough, then you can each give me up to another ten. I am going to let her buy the wine because she knows somebody in the trade, and says she can get us good sound wine, which you don’t get in estaminets, fairly cheap.’