In the Foreign Legion

science of "decorating" : The industries of the légionnaires : What the bugler did for a living : The man with the biscuit

a crust of bread made the biggest mistake of their lives when t

ry man in the Legion

he finest social grades and distinctions. Not only the value but also the power of money was enhanced in the Legion. Copper pieces meant a great deal here. Copper pieces purchased a

s obeyed in all matters. It was too funny to see how his comrades hurried themselves when this man, the incarnation of the God of Mammon in the Legion, happened to express a wish, and how they then went off with beaming faces to the canteen to change the couple of sous they had earned into wine. The self-confidence with whi

ven in the Fo

xactly the fiftieth part of the daily pay of an American regular. The twent

ing. The average légionnaire finds out in a remarkably short time that he has been a fool to enlist, that he is the victim of a system very near aki

for service. Fighting is not the only work of the Foreign Legion, however. Only one-half of the légionnaire is a real soldier. The other half of him is workman, carpenter, builder, road-maker. He works hard and he is so cheap a workman that no Chinese coolie can compete with him. He receives board

. And if a bullet, or sunstroke, or typhoid fever, or dysentery carries away a légionnaire, the only expense he is the cause of is the making of a hole in the sa

a bottle of wine. It is only enough for one of these three. The purchase of a box of matches, which are monopolised in Algeria and cost five centimes, is a very grave

r a légionnaire; no wonder that men like Rassedin rule as kings. Nowhere can the

Legion are, of course, r

with a small postal order. Then there is joy in the land of Sidi-bel-Abbès. For a day, or a few days, or even a week, the prodigal son with the postal order lives like a king. He has his boots cleaned for him, and would not dream of making his own bed as long as his money lasts. A comrade does that for him, and in reward is graciously permitted to share a drink. C'est la Légion! To play the "grand seigneur," if it is but fo

the Foreign Legion. It is a mixture

ate yo

newcomer. Make your life in the Legion as easy as possible is the meaning of this advice; take care that your tobacco-pouch stays full,

rating" is carried out is a

naire developed an extraordinary business instinct. His transactions were not at all simple. An Arab never parts with hard cash-after the time-honoured manner of his kind. So the bugler had to "trade." He would exchange his gaudy rags for a pair of pretty golden-bossed Arabian shoes, or a grotesquely carved Arabian stick, or a morocco purs

of the men would not touch them. So the biscuit man had a capital gathering ground, and in some cunning way, which he carefully kept secret, he took sack upon sack of these biscuits out of the barracks. In the market-place of Sidi-bel-Abbès he found plen

rply. The theft of equipment, to replace lost or stolen parts, was considered absolutely respectable

is a very simple thi

trousers!" cries th

g," says the o

all I do then?" wa

lf, you fool," s

ce for an auspicious moment. A lightning snatch and a pair of somebody's trousers hanging innocently on the line are his. He has decorated himself. It's immoral, of course. It's theft right enough. I

who has been robbed has no other remedy than doing likewise. And so on.... In a very few days hundreds of pairs of trousers chan

entlemanly, a thing permitted, and it is a "point d'honneur"

cco or money or even bread. The whole company would form a self-constituted detecti

ade me jump out of bed. Sleepily I looked about me. Around Rassedin's bed stood a group of cursing and gesticulating soldiers. I went up to them. Smith and three others we

om the ten

tammered

e you doing in t

into the wrong qu

n the room had gathered and w

ousers and my trousers were under my pillow. Just now I felt something moving near me, jumped

ied the bugl

r perhaps a minute. Then all was still-the man from the tenth company lay there gasping and covered with blood. His face was black, so terribly was it bruise

to decorate himself!" said Rassedin grim

nch-law in our quarters was not inquired into. The punishment of the thief

ith absinthe glasses, and used to tell Madame la Cantinière (who understood a little German) the funniest stories. Very soon he succeeded in making a deep impression on that worthy lady, the queen over so many desirable wine-casks. She found the clever Herr von Rader amusing, and she did something that she had never done before in her life. She gave the man of many tr

nder the flag of the Legion than all the other recruits. Sometimes, however (when Madame la Cantinière was in a bad temper or her Portuguese husband kept too sharp an eye on

e me there is a bottle of wine and a cigarette easily to be had anywhere in the world. You'll admit that! Is it easy here? It is not! I've got to waste a lot of thinking and fine ar

e cheerful Herr von Rader was to suffer the whole

the Legion, was troubled by the simple problem of the Foreign Legion! A problem which so many of the Legion's soldiers have t

rks-the Legion