To most of the officers of the Ninety-ninth Cartwright appeared to be more unfortunate than worthless.
"Gentlemen," said Captain Ribaut, when they had passed the head of the pier, "I think that I can obtain a car if you wish it.

What is your pleasure ?" "Thank you, but we've been on shipboard for so many days that we'll enjoy the chance to stretch our legs," replied Major Wells.
"A walk of a few miles would do us a lot of good this morning." "It is not that far," replied the French captain, who spoke excellent English.

"The distance is, I should say, about two kilometers." As that meant a little more than a mile the party walked off briskly.
"Why, this doesn't look really like a French town," declared Major Wells.
"You Americans have been coming here for so many months that you have made the city American," explained Captain Ribaut.

"See, even the shops display signs in English, and very few in French.
It is on American money that these shops thrive.

Here comes one of our own poilus, a sight you will not see many times in this American town on French soil." Poilus is a French word meaning "shaggy," and is commonly applied to the French enlisted man.