t of our rough surgery and
the wanton neglect of our captors. I do not think he was ever able to
write his mother as he wished. At least she wrote me later for
information. There was no need of his dying even though it might have
been necessary to have amputated his arm higher up. Royston was
exchanged to Switzerland and recovered from his wounds except for the
loss of an eye.

CHAPTER VIII

THE PRINCESS PATRICIA'S GERMAN UNCLE

Roulers--The Old Woman and the Gentle Uhlans--Billeted in a
Church--Quizzed by a Prince.

We were marched to Roulers, which we reached well after dark. A
considerable crowd of soldiers and civilians awaited our coming. The
Belgian women and children congregated in front of the church while we
waited to be let in, and threw us apples and cigarettes. The uhlans
and infantrymen rushed them with the flat side of their swords and the
butts of their muskets; and mistreated them. They knocked one old
woman down quite close to where I stood. So we had to do without and
were not even permitted to pick up the gifts that lay at our feet,
much less the old woman.

The church had been used as a stable quite recently and the
stone-flagged floor was deep with the decayed straw and accumulated
filth of men and horses. We lay down in it and got what rest we could
for the remainder of the night. There were about one hundred and fifty
prisoners in all--Shropshires, Cheshires, King's Royal Rifles and
other British regiments--all from our division and mostly from our
brigade. Other small parties continued to come in during the night,
but there were no more P.P.'s. In the morning a large tub of water was
carried in and each man was given a bit of black bread and a slice of
raw fat bacon. The latter was salty and so thoroughly unappetizing
that I cannot recall that any one ate his ration, for in spite of the
fact that we had been twenty-four hours without food, we were so upset
by the experiences we had undergone, so shattered by shell fire and
lack of rest that we were perhaps inclined to be more critical of our
food than normal men would have been.

Shortly afterward a high German officer came in with his staff. He was
a stout and well-built man of middle age or over, typically German in
his general characteristics but not half bad looking. His uniform was
covered with braid and medals. Every one paid him the utmost
deference. He stopped in the middle of the room.

"Are there any Canadians here