"A colonel, two other officers, and his Excellency's nephew."

"Four?" rejoined a clerk. "What a commission! Suppose they
disagree--are they competent?"

"That's what I asked," replied a clerk. "It's said that one civilian
ought to go, one who has no military prejudices--a shoemaker,
for instance."

"That's right," added an importer of shoes, "but it wouldn't do
to send an Indian or a Chinaman, and the only Peninsular shoemaker
demanded such large fees--"

"But why do they have to make any investigations about
footwear?" inquired the elderly lady. "It isn't for the Peninsular
artillerymen. The Indian soldiers can go barefoot, as they do in
their towns." [38]

"Exactly so, and the treasury would save more," corroborated another
lady, a widow who was not satisfied with her pension.

"But you must remember," remarked another in the group, a friend of
the officers on the commission, "that while it's true they go barefoot
in the towns, it's not the same as moving about under orders in the
service. They can't choose the hour, nor the road, nor rest when
they wish. Remember, madam, that, with the noonday sun overhead and
the earth below baking like an oven, they have to march over sandy
stretches, where there are stones, the sun above and fire below,
bullets in front--"