complain that they are
inundated with foolish questions over the telephone. "Ist Namur
belgisch oder franzoesisch?" (Is Namur Belgian or French?)

"Gehen die Schottlaender wirklich mit nackten Beinen in die Schlacht?"
(Do the Highlanders really go into battle with naked legs?)

"Wie lange wird es ungefaehr dauern, bis die Deutschen Paris
eingenommen haben?" (How long will it be before the Germans have
taken Paris?) and so on.

_September 14th._--Again rumours of our going, but even though release
will be most welcome, we all dread the journey. Terrible tales come to
us of the treatment meted out to foreigners crossing the frontier.
Many English were turned out of Wiesbaden and sent here. At F---- they
had their luggage searched, and the ladies of the party were stripped
to the skin by women who even combed their hair to see if by any
ingenuity they had concealed plans and drawings in the puffs and
coils, two soldiers with fixed bayonets mounting guard meanwhile
outside. No doubt we shall remember this journey to the end of our
lives, but what can you expect from a people whose Prophet Nietzsche
says, "What is more harmful than any vice? Pity for the weak and
helpless--Christianity!"

_September 15th._--The singular absence of humour of the Germans often
amuses me. I think it was Palmerston who described Germany as "that
land of damned Professors." They are all so desperately in earnest,
and their "Kultur" is so serious, that jokes and fun seem like
blasphemy. My penury has again been relieved by Mr. S----'s kind loan
of L1. Lady M---- came in to tell me that the American Vice-Consul had
telegraphed to Mr. W---- the good news that we are all to go on
Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next. I have heard this story so often
that I am utterly sceptical. We conclude that things are going badly
for the enemy, since there is no bell-ringing, and the flags have been
taken in.

[Illustration: NUR IN LONDON NICHT
(_But not in London!_)]

_September 16th._--I hear that no men who have served in the Army or
Navy are to be allowed to go with us. To-day's "Frankfurter Zeitung"
thinks that England must be at her last gasp, or she would not have
"barbarians such as Indians, Japanese and _Highlanders_" fighting her
battles for her! They also declare on "unimpeachable evidence" that
India is in a state of revolt, and that the Japanese are to be
despatched at once to quell the rebellion. Any misfortune to the
British delights them.