man
officers, and the accommodation was quite as good as I would expect in
England. There were six nurses in this hospital, kind and generous in
their treatment, and they fed me with every delicacy they could find,
and waited upon me hand and foot.

Cotton was ordered to return to Osnabruck, and was replaced by a
German orderly. An armed guard was placed outside my bedroom door, day
and night, and whenever I took exercise in the garden, I could hear
his footsteps behind me, following me wherever I went, and spitting on
the ground every two or three yards.

On the second day after my arrival, I went for my final examination,
and the medical officer told me he would send his sergeant-major, who
could speak good English, to have a talk with me that evening. What
did that mean? Why should he want to talk to me? I became suspicious
and awaited his coming with some uneasiness.

He arrived about 7 o'clock that evening, bringing a friend and two
bottles of wine. They opened the wine and we smoked together.
Conversation was going to be very difficult. I felt I was going to be
pumped for information.

It was going to be a battle of wits--I could feel it in my veins.

I made up my mind to be pleasant and tactful and meet every question
by asking one.

As a matter of fact, I was mistaken. They were Germans who had lived
in England and worked at the Deutsche Bank in George Yard, Lombard
Street, until war broke out, and had lived in Highbury. I soon found
out that they were not bad fellows at all, although their opening
conversation did put my back up, and make me suspicious.

"London must be full of soldiers?"

I replied cautiously:

"Well, I suppose the big cities, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, must
all be full of soldiers these days."

"But what do the English people really think about the cause of the
war?"

"Well," I replied evasively, "it's difficult to say, because people in
England who talk, don't think; and people who think, don't talk."

"Well, do you think when the war is over there will be any hard
feeling? Do you think things will settle down, and we shall be able to
live there again as we did before?"

"Well, that depends upon the people's feelings after the war."

"You know, we cannot understand the English people; you are very hard
to understand, the way you do things."

"How so?"

"Well, look at the way you have got your army together. It's
marvellous; we all admit it. It surprised us.

"Look