of rele fiters you just go
take a look at them, and you mite tell your brother Jules to take a
look at them two as he might get some idees from them. I cant tell you
what all those words mean, gee whiz is just gee whiz and a feler is a
guy who is about 12 or 18, and a bum is a feler or something that is
no good, and a pollywog is a animal that is going to be a frog, and
pooh-pooh is pooh-pooh, and bughouse means you have rats in the upper
story, and you had better find out about the getysberg adress and the
boy scouts and mebbe and the dickens yourself but I wood go easy on
them if I was you. What you want to go askin me all those things fer
ennyway? I aint askin you what the vacancies, or all of a hit, or
pending, of enny of those things are, am I? I got your photo and I
like the way your hare curls and your eyes two and everythin, and I am
glad you are not laffin. Girls that giggle are the limit. I have only
one photo of myself and I look as if I wood dye grinning becaus the
man that took it was jumpin up and down and sayin, Look hear! Look
hear! Say wood you relly like to have it? I dont think you wood, I
dont see what good I am ennyway. I am two young to inlist and I dont
think you relly like me. I guess mebbe I had better go to sea or
something.

Your affeckshunate godfather,
James P. Jackson Jr.

P.S. I went butterflying to-day and had good luck.

18 rue d'Autancourt, Paris.
August 2, 1917.

Dear godfather:

You know what it is the "cafard?" In the dictionary it say it is a
"roach" and that is the little beast black like your pollywogs, I
think. But in the Poilu talk it means not that. When there is no more
fun in life, and I am not good for anything anyhow, like you say,
that is what they call to have the "cafard." And it is very bad in the
army. It is to have a bad morale and we must wind ourselves up.

Dear godfather, you must be content because I love you much. And you
take so much pain and you labor so hard to entertain[17] me, I want
make you happy in your heart so you have no more the "cafard." Dear
godfather, I will tell you the American Poilus have come. On Monday
last we hear the music on the road and the mistress tell us this
afternoon all the children must put on aprons clean, and we go to see
pass the Americans. And Maman give me five sous for purchase a bouquet
for give them in souvenir of my dear godfather, and the fleuriste
give me two roses red and I envelope them in a paper wet fo