ieve he
received quite decent food, for which he was very thankful. During the
late afternoon some children came to annoy him by shouting rude
remarks from the passage. Even these little wretches were of some
use, for at their departure they touched something on the outside of
his door which jingled, and turned out to be a bunch of keys, which he
was able to get possession of by pulling them through the sliding
panel used by the guard for spying on the prisoner. When it was dark
the adventurer produced the keys and by dint of much labour succeeded
in opening his own cell and walking out.

At the back of one of the nearer buildings he discovered a bicycle,
which he appropriated without a second thought. Having discovered his
whereabouts he struck north to get into his original line, and was
unfortunately discovered by some N.C.O.'s the next day in almost a
starving condition repairing his bicycle in a shed. After such an
attempt as this it is indeed hard to return to serve one's sentence at
a camp prison or fortress, knowing full well that, although having
done one's utmost, even the slightest official recognition is out of
the question. After the second escape the Hun in charge of the men's
camp 'phoned to Clausthal, stating that the officer had been
recaptured. Wolfe hearing the joyous news started out to bring back
the truant as a lesson to others. "But when he got there the cupboard
was bare," so he returned to the "Hartz-Gebirge" empty-handed and
disconsolate. The only really decent German at the camp appeared to be
an "_aspirant_," or first class warrant officer, who treated us quite
fairly when opportunity offered; however, his superiors saw to it that
this was not often.

PARCELS.--These arrived fairly well, but were periodically hoarded up
by the Huns for a week or ten days, where we could not get them
without any previous warning. When drawing food all the tins had to be
left behind until wanted for immediate consumption. It was therefore
very difficult to lay in a supply against such emergencies. During
these periods most messes determined, if possible, to have a meal of
sorts at tea-time. Gradually, as the provisions got lower and lower,
the menu read somewhat as follows: Tea (no milk or sugar); very
limited black bread, thinly spread with soup essence, or _cafe au
lait_ (when the dripping, lard or potted meat had finally vanished).
The meal itself was rather nauseating, but afterwards it was most
gratifyi