ping to get away under the trees unnoticed.
Unfortunately, I landed on some dry twigs, which crackled at every
step and betrayed my presence. Remembering the deer incident, I
emitted a loud, coughing bark, such as those animals make, and crashed
through the undergrowth, making as much noise as possible. To my
relief I saw that the man with the lantern turned back to his post to
rejoin his companion--presumably the ruse succeeded. It was just as
well I was not caught here, for now I have reason to believe that I
was close to an important aerodrome, and that this was a
guard--possibly against espionage.

The distance covered was, roughly, a hundred and sixty miles, and,
during the whole period, only once did I recognise the name of a small
town on a milestone, which told me I was going in the right direction.
The fact of having no one to talk to for so many days, combined with
the uncertainty of it all, had the most depressing influence. While
waiting for the long days to pass, killing countless mosquitoes, I
frequently wondered if the stars could be purposely leading me in the
wrong direction, or if peace had been declared, and I was on an
unnecessarily tiring walking tour. As I was approaching a busy
railway, I frequently heard thuds and crashes, or, if the wind was
steady, a faint roar, which, I afterwards found, was caused by the
continued traffic and shunting of trucks. This troubled me quite a
lot, for it sounded exactly like an intermittent bombardment, and not
infrequently increased in volume, until I am convinced an old soldier
would have sworn it was a distant barrage. I pictured my arrival at
the frontier only to learn that Holland had decided to be in the
fashion, and was therefore running a little war on her own, on the
popular Bolshevik excuse of upholding the cause of democracy. The only
thing left for me to do would have been to have turned about and,
after many trials and hardships, succeed in getting into Switzerland,
where Fate, with a smile on her face, would probably have arranged to
have me shot by accident while on my way through Zurich, during the
subsequent riots.

Our "_moutons_" in the meantime, have been straying badly; it is,
therefore, our duty to leave dreams to take care of themselves, and
return to the subject without more ado. When I had been on the loose
for a week the country became very flat and sodden--water was
everywhere. Most of the roads were banked up to guard against flood,
w