Roland understood. But it didn’t mean he liked the mission any better.

They met in the officers’ tent. The colonel of the regiment was there, a short, bristling man, together with a captain and three lieutenants.

“We’ve got ten men for you,” said the colonel. “Though I could let you have at least fifty who deserve to be shot.”

“I’d rather have five,” said Roland. “This wasn’t a very large disturbance.” Then he explained what Pétain was trying to achieve. “The minimum that will preserve discipline while encouraging morale.”

“If we chose only the men who first initiated the mutiny, the ones who refused a direct order, then I think it would be five,” suggested the captain.

“And that devil Le Sourd,” said the colonel. “That makes six.”

Roland noticed that the captain and one of the lieutenants looked awkward.

“Describe this Le Sourd to me,” said Roland.

“He’s a big fellow,” said the captain. “He must have been over the age limit when he volunteered. The troops call him Papa.”

“He’s a communist agitator, a revolutionary,” the colonel said furiously. “He had a red flag up, told the men they’d march on Paris and take down the government. He deserves to be shot more than any of them.”

“Black hair, and eyes wide apart?” asked Roland.

“That’s the man. Do you know him, sir?”

“He may be a fellow I came across once. The politics sound like him.” Roland thought for a moment. “You say the men call him Papa. Does that mean they like him?”

“Yes,” said the captain. “He helps them with their letters, you know, that sort of thing. He’s a good soldier,” he added, with an uncertain glance at the colonel. “Just believes in world revolution, that’s all.”

The colonel gave a snort of disgust.

“I need to know one thing,” said Roland. Did he commit an overt act of mutiny? Did he refuse an order to fight?”

“Not really,” said the captain, with another apologetic look at the colonel. “His advocacy of revolution came after the mutiny began.”

“What the devil does that matter?” cried the colonel.

“He committed an act of revolution, but not of mutiny,” said Roland.

“Are you mad?” cried the colonel.

“There are men in the government at this moment,” Roland said quietly, “who probably believe in world revolution. And after the war, mon colonel, if you wish to take up arms against them, I will fight at your side. I am the Vicomte de Cygne, and I am a royalist. But the instructions I have, which come directly from Pétain, oblige me to counsel you that this Le Sourd is not a mutineer—at least, not the kind we want at present.” He looked at them all severely. “I shall leave you for a short while now, messieurs, and when I return, I shall expect to receive from you the names of the men we are to take for court-martial.”