“ Pardon, Monsieur, du 6-ème de ligne. ” 56

“ Eh sussy oo ashtay? ” 57 pointing to a cigarette-holder of yellow wood in which the Frenchman is smoking a cigarette.

“ A Balaclava, Monsieur! C’est tout simple en bois de palme. ” 58

“ Joli ,” 59 says the officer, guided in his remarks not so much by his own free will as by the French words he knows.