THE BATTLE OF FRANCE
out, they apologized with "Pardon, monsieur" by
way of practice/
"Did they stand up to the journey pretty well?9
'Mules/ the major said, 'are beasts that have to be
known. They are the offspring of the donkey and
the mare: they've all the stubbornness of the one and
the courage of the other* Everything new they hate.
The first time you put them on a train, you need
four drivers to overcome the prejudices of one mule.
But once they've adopted the train, they never want
to leave it. To start with, they starve rather than eat
these unfamiliar oats. Now, however, all that's been
straightened out, and everything's going well.
The mules were manifestly in superb condition.
Small, vigorous, with shining coats, they were very
much alive and ready for work. Each of them was
covered with a light grey cloth. Their improvised
stable was open to the air. The Indian Army knows
how to take care of its animals.
'And the goats?' I said, *we had a lot of trouble
with the Hindoos' goats in the last war/
"We've no goats/ the Major said, 'we give them
mutton/
Everything has its day.
Ch6chias and Kilts
You have had descriptions of the smart parade a
few days ago, when General Gamelin conferred on
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