on the soldiers, and not only invited
them to climb upon the top of the landaulette, but climbed up
ourselves, and obeyed all behests. The first deadly thing to come to
light in my trunk was a Canadian bark workbox. "Open it." The contents
was critically examined. Then various perilous packets were found:
Soap--Soap--and again, Soap!

The sun was hot, and so were we, but the investigation went on very
thoroughly. At last it was over, but we were told that we had to go
to the Kontrol office--whatever that might be. A chinless juvenile got
into the car with us as escort, but he was so weighed down with the
sense of his own importance that he was not very interesting. At the
Kontrol office we were all marched into a little room. It had a bed,
and on a washstand was a basin filled with clean water. We were so
dirty after unstrapping and strapping trunks that we asked if we might
wash our hands. Two kindly soldiers ministered to us and got us clean
towels, and listened sympathetically to the story of our examination.
Then in came the adjutant, and no one could have been nicer or more
courteous. We explained that we were trying to get to Holland, as we
wished to sail to America, and that our one desire was to get out of
Germany as quickly as we could. He smiled, and then he went away, and
wrote out a little paper and signed it. It was to the effect that we
had been examined, and that all was satisfactory. Never have three
women been more grateful for a little piece of paper, and when we
said good-by to our benefactor, our gratitude was very real.

We were soon spinning along again, but ugly indications of warfare
began to be visible. Outside Minden we saw quantities of cannon being
mounted, and then suddenly we came upon a motor in a ditch. Children
were playing round it, and a man was keeping guard under a tree. Our
chauffeur stopped to find out what had happened. The car had belonged
to a Russian. He had tried to escape when told to "Halt," and had been
shot. Truly the grim game had begun in this peaceful-looking land.

Time after time we were stopped by orders of soldiers, and we got
almost used to the imperative "Halt." But we had nothing to fear with
our magic _passe-partout_. A few words of parleying, and then came the
usual concession: "You may go on further." No one would say exactly
where "further" meant, but surely we should get to the frontier. We
headed for Osnabrueck, mistaking the road, however, at Luebeck, wh