The Red Collar Read Online Free PDF

didn’t feel very comfortable continuing the investigation on this territory. As far as literature was concerned, he liked the Greeks and Cicero, Pascal and the classics. The only contemporaries he’d read were those who glorified France, particularly Barrès. In his works, there was veneration for both the monarchy and the Empire—in other words, authority. And there was scorn for the Republic, for which Victor Hugo was the bard.
    â€œLet’s pick up where we left off,” said Lantier, going over his notes. “You were in Champagne. Did you have any leave in the six months you were there?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd did you come here?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWith your dog?”
    â€œNo, he waited for me there. The boys looked after him.”
    â€œThen you were posted with the Oriental Expeditionary Force,” Lantier said, checking the file. “And did he follow you there?”
    â€œFirst my regiment went down to Toulon by train. The dog came with us. But I was convinced he wouldn’t go further than that. So long as we were in billets, things were still okay for him. But the port was different. In their dockyard the naval riflemen waged war on animals and didn’t think twice about shooting them. We’d only been in the docks two days when the dog disappeared.”
    â€œDid you board a military vessel?”
    â€œNo, a requisitioned cargo ship: the
Ville d’Oran
. It was an old tub covered in rust which had shuttled backward and forward to the colonies before the war. We stayed onboard for four days before casting off. It smelled of palm oil and droppings because there were about fifty horses in the hold, for the officers. Everyone was sick and we hadn’t even put out to sea yet.”
    â€œAnd was the dog onboard?”
    â€œWe didn’t know right away. That’s what’s amazing about it. He must have realized that, so long as we were still on the quay, he shouldn’t show his face. He came out of hiding on the second day of the crossing.”
    â€œAnd didn’t the officers throw him overboard?”
    â€œOfficers? We never saw them,” Morlac hissed, eyeing the major with the surly look in his eye again. “They were in the wardroom, with the captain, probably to avoid being on view when they puked.”
    â€œThe NCOs, then?”
    â€œHe’s crafty, that dog, I’ve told you that. When he showed up, he had a rat between his jaws. In those four days we’d had time to see there was a lot of vermin on the ship, so everyone was pleased he’d come to sort things out a bit in the hold.”
    â€œAnd did he become the regimental dog?”
    â€œNo, because he didn’t see himself like that. He always knew he was my dog. He lay at my feet, slept by my side, and if anyone came up to me looking for trouble, he growled.”
    There was something strange about the tone Morlac had adopted. He was willingly talking about the dog in favorable terms. But there was no detectable warmth in his voice. More like contempt or regret. It was as though he passed harsh judgment on the qualities he was describing.
    â€œDid you give him a name?”
    â€œNot me. The others did. Since he’d jumped on the train, the boys called him Wilhelm, for a laugh. Because of the Kaiser.”
    â€œYes, I got that,” said Lantier, slightly peeved.
    He made a note of the dog’s name and, while there was a pause in the interrogations, noticed that the animal had fallen silent again.
    â€œAnd what happened to ‘Wilhelm’ in Salonika?”
    â€œYou don’t have a cigarette, do you?”
    This time, the major had anticipated the ploy. He’d armed himself with a pack of shag and some cigarette papers. Morlac busied his fingers rolling. Like all soldiers who’d been in the war, he was good at this. But anyone could tell he was deliberately doing it slowly because the main aim, back there, had