Twain and his friends finally reach France. However, their first stop, Marseille, is fraught with problems. What are some of them?

There is no immediate place to dock in Marseille, and the boat is stuck at sea. However, Twain and several of his friends have no intention of waiting. They persuade a boatman to let them cross over in his boat to land. Unfortunately, the language barrier is too broad, and the boatman takes them to customs where they are submitted to strict interrogation. A bit frightened, the men try, in faltering French, to explain the situation to the customs woman. Finally, after much concern over their lack of communication, they learn that the woman speaks English. The problems could have possibly been avoided if Twain and his fellow escapees had been patient enough to wait for the ship to dock.