dly with the
high-pitched adjurations of the women and the wails and cries of the
terrified children. Within a few minutes the train was packed to
suffocation, not an inch of standing-room being left, while the
corridors were barricaded with the overflow of baggage from the guards'
vans.

For two hours we stood there scarcely able to breathe. The heat of the
waxing summer's day began to assert itself, with the result that it was
not long before the women commenced to show signs of distress. Their
spirits revived, however, as the train commenced to move. There was one
solace--one and all were advancing towards home and the discomfort would
not last for long.

So keen was the desire to get to Berlin that the great majority of the
passengers had neglected to provide themselves with any food, lest they
should lose their seats or miss the train. But they confidently expected
that the train would pull up at some station to enable refreshments to
be obtained. They were supported in this belief by the withdrawal of the
usual dining car from the train. Those who trusted in luck, however,
were rudely disappointed. The train refused to stop at any station.
Instead, it evinced a decided preference for intermediate signal posts.
It was described as an express, but a tortoise's crawl would be a gallop
in comparison. It travelled at only a little more than a walking pace
and the stops were maddeningly frequent.

The women and children speedily betrayed painful evidences of the
suffering they were experiencing, which became accentuated as we
advanced. The close confinement rendered the atmosphere within the
carriages extremely oppressive. The weaker men and the women commenced
to faint but no assistance could be extended to them. One could move
barely an arm or leg. The afflicted passengers simply went off where
they were, sitting or standing, as the case might be, and prevented from
falling by the closely packed passengers around them, to come round as
best they could when Nature felt so disposed. The wails of the children
were pitiful. Many were crying from cramp and hunger, but nothing could
be done to satisfy them, and indeed the men took little notice of them.

The arrival--in time--at the frontier station at Goch somewhat revived
the distressed and drooping. Everyone seized the opportunity to stretch
the limbs, to inhale some fresh air, and to obtain some slight
refreshment. The Customs officials were unusually alert, harryin