He may keep me on duty every day, or may place me under arrest, but no one can make me apologize, because if he, as commander of this regiment, thinks it beneath his dignity to give me satisfaction, then..." "You just wait a moment, my dear fellow, and listen," interrupted the staff captain in his deep bass, calmly stroking his long mustache.

"You tell the colonel in the presence of other officers that an officer has stolen..." "I'm not to blame that the conversation began in the presence of other officers.

Perhaps I ought not to have spoken before them, but I am not a diplomatist.