er too small to form a safe hiding-place, while
an unusually large one would, in all probability, attract attention.
It is reasonable to suppose that, should a general enlargement be
effected embracing a number of stooks in one area, the result would be
hardly noticeable. Removing my pack and coat, I set to work
transporting two oat sheaves from each of the stooks in the next row
for a length of about fifty yards, and adding them to the row in which
my nest was planned to be. To avoid suspicion, I made the now depleted
stooks up to their usual strength by again borrowing the same number
of sheaves from each of the heaps in the row still further beyond.
After repeating this strenuous operation a number of times the desired
effect was produced, most of the heaps in my corner of the field now
being considerably larger than the rest. Surely it was a good omen
that my fat sheaves had devoured many of their leaner brethren, even
though the number was not restricted to seven, as in Pharaoh's dream.
The value of making oneself as comfortable as possible under adverse
conditions cannot be over-estimated, for it not only stimulates the
instinct of self-preservation, but renders one in the best condition
to face the task ahead. Exposure and fatigue gradually wear down one's
powers of resistance and bring with them the feeling that nothing
matters. This is to be avoided more than anything, for it introduces
the personal element into all reasonings, often forcing a decision
against one's better judgment. Having chosen my special heap, I
arranged it in such a way as to leave me as much room for movement as
possible in the centre. As I exchanged the wetter sheaves for
comparatively dry ones, the prospect of once again being warm was
delightful and caused me to work with a will. Everything was almost
completed, and I was just strewing a little dry straw on the ground
between the sheaves, to serve as a mattress, when suddenly a man's
voice hailed me, in unmistakable German, from a distance of about
fifty yards: "_Was machen sie da_?" ("What are you doing there?"). Any
doubts as to which country I was in were rudely dispelled. For a
moment I was completely at a loss for an answer, then, bending down, I
seized the loose sheaf (which was to have acted as a door to my
palace) and placed it against the others, and, turning round, replied
in low German, "I am only replacing these, which have fallen down."

Two workmen were standing just beyon