s
voice burst forth into the "Marseillaise," and the German orderly
bolted out of the door.

Then the concert party ran to their dormitories; the lights were
turned out, and we sought safety in sleep.

[Illustration: Captain Nobbs after his release from the German
prison.]

We used to ask Saniez about his home; and he seemed to grow quiet and
confident. His home, he said, was about three miles behind the German
line.

Some one suggested that it was in a dangerous place, as the British
were advancing, and no house near the line could escape untouched; but
Saniez was confident.

No! shells could not possibly harm it. His wife and sister lived
there; it was his home. He was a prisoner, but whatever happened to
him, the combined fury of the nations could not touch his home.

Saniez! Saniez! May you never awaken from your dream!

CHAPTER XXVI

LIFE IN HANOVER HOSPITAL

HOSPITAL DIET. INTERVIEWED BY A GERMAN DOCTOR. DISCHARGED FROM
HOSPITAL

The diet in hospital can hardly be described as suitable for invalids.
At the same time it was substantial as compared with what is received
in prison camps. For breakfast we received coffee, with two very
small, crusty rolls, each about the size of a tangerine orange; each
roll cut in half, and a slight suspicion of jam placed between; for
dejeuner one cup of coffee, one roll, and some very strong cheese,
quite unfit to eat. The dinner was usually quite good, consisting of
soup, a little meat and vegetables, and stewed apples or gooseberries.
At 3 o'clock a cup of coffee and a small roll; at 6 o'clock supper,
consisting of tea without milk, strong cheese, or German sausage or
brawn, and a slice of bread.

For this diet we paid eighty marks per month.

An officer receives pay from the German Government on the following
scale: lieutenant, sixty marks per month; captain, one hundred marks
per month. The German Government recover the payments from the English
Government, and it is charged against the officers' pay in England.

No food is supplied free to officers either in hospital or camp; and
they cannot purchase anything beyond the regular issue.

With the exception of the dinner, I found the food of very little use
to me for the first week or two, as having lost the power in my jaw,
and being unable to open it more than half an inch, I couldn't tackle
the rolls, and what couldn't be eaten had to be left; there was no
substitute.

There was another di