“They kept us on that boat two days. Durin’ that time some little French kids who could _parley_ a little English rowed out in a tub and sold us _beaucoup van rouge_ and _cognac_. About half of the ship got zig-zag _toot sweet_. I thought they’d put us in irons. “Finally we got marched ashore and through the town to our barracks. Some barracks for a white man I’ll say. No bunks. No floor. No stoves. Nothing but a roof and the ground. It comes easy now to _cushay_ on a bag of ten-penny nails, but in them days sleepin’ on the cold bumpy ground was just as bad as missin’ your weekly Saturday bath in the States. “I’ll never forget my first night in France. I got put in the jug. Those damn American M. P.’s of course. Ever since then I ain’t had much love for that branch of the service. Course we don’t see too much of them up at the front, but they get in a man’s way now and then. Seems as though you had to have a pass to be on the streets. As usual I never had any pass, so they grabbed me, Samson, Johnson, and Kicky Hull. When we got to the brig we found practically the whole outfit lined up there. “We had a fair time the first few days. But I had a job tryin’ to _compree_ this foolish-looking French money. Say, O. D., ain’t it the worst stuff you ever handled? For one good ten-spot, American dough, I’d give ’em all the _frankers_ they ever printed. _Pas bon_, that stuff. “I met one fine French family in that town. There was the mother, father, and girl. Her name was Suzanne, and, honest, boy, she was a little rose mademoiselle. Pretty and delicate-like, you know, and could speak English in that _bon_ way that these janes over here _parley_ American after studyin’ it. Lots better than you or me can. Suzanne and her people were regular folks. Why, they were almost the same as Americans. Had all kinds of stuff in the house, stoves and pianos, like us, and did mostly as we do, except I never saw them drinking water. “Well, Suzanne had a _fiancée_, a young French lieutenant, and she was always talkin’ about him and how much she loved him. She hated the Germans worse than rats. All Suzanne wanted to do was end the war, have her _fiancé_ come home and get married. Her people was pretty wealthy for French people. Had a big stationery and athletic-goods store. They sure tried to make life worth while for old Samson and myself. Believe Sammy was a bit stuck on Suzanne, but he never said nothin’ ’bout it to me. He could _parley_ a little bit, and it used to get me mad as hell to go into a store or any place and have him start that French stuff and talk to the people when I couldn’t get a word of the lingo.