stinct effect. The three of us who were
left maintained a conversation in whispers and finally came to the
conclusion that the best thing we could do was to seek sleep so as to be
fit for the enquiry which was certain to take place.

I was dog-tired, but the authorities, as represented by the sentries,
were not disposed to let us enjoy what they were denied. The guard was
constantly changing and the clattering and rasping of orders and
commands repeatedly woke us up. Then again, at frequent intervals, the
sentry would enter. Seeing me asleep he would either give me a prod with
his bayonet or a smart rap with the butt-end of his rifle to wake me up,
the idea no doubt being to impress upon me the serious nature of my
position and to inflict upon me the utmost discomfort.

Being prevented from sleeping and commencing to feel the pangs of
hunger, having eaten nothing since lunch upon the train, I asked for
something to eat. The sentry was very sorry but related that food was
quite out of the question because none of the officers in charge of me
from whom he could obtain the necessary instructions were available.

[*large gap]

The absence of the officers was explained a little later. They had been
searching for an interpreter, so that I might be put through another
inquisition. This interpreter was about the most incompetent of his
class that one could wish to meet. His English was execrable--far worse
than Chinese pidgin--and he had an unhappy and disconcerting manner of
intermingling German and English words, while either through a physical
defect or from some other cause, he could not pronounce his consonants
correctly.

I was taken through the usual rigmarole such as I had at first
experienced at Goch. The evidence also, as usual, was committed to
paper. It was a perfunctory enquiry, however, and was soon completed.
Naturally upon its conclusion I considered that I would be free to
resume my journey. I turned to my interpreter.

"Now this is all over I suppose I can go?"

"Ach! nein zoo tant doh!"

His English was so vile that I thought he said and meant "ah! at nine
you can go!"

Seeing that it was about eleven o'clock at the time, I thought I had
better hurry in case there was another Flushing-bound train. So I
scuttled towards the door only to receive another heavy clout from the
sentry's rifle. What the interpreter really said was "Ah! No, you can't
go!" As I rubbed my bruised head I treated that interpre