I was dog-tired, but the authorities, as represented by the sentries, were not disposed to let us enjoy what they were denied.  The guard was constantly changing and the clattering and rasping of orders and commands repeatedly woke us up.  Then again, at frequent intervals, the sentry would enter.  Seeing me asleep he would either give me a prod with his bayonet or a smart rap with the butt-end of his rifle to wake me up, the idea no doubt being to impress upon me the serious nature of my position and to inflict upon me the utmost discomfort.

Being prevented from sleeping and commencing to feel the pangs of hunger, having eaten nothing since lunch upon the train, I asked for something to eat.  The sentry was very sorry but related that food was quite out of the question because none of the officers in charge of me from whom he could obtain the necessary instructions were available.

[large gap]

The absence of the officers was explained a little later.  They had been searching for an interpreter, so that I might be put through another inquisition.  This interpreter was about the most incompetent of his class that one could wish to meet.  His English was execrable—­far worse than Chinese pidgin—­and he had an unhappy and disconcerting manner of intermingling German and English words, while either through a physical defect or from some other cause, he could not pronounce his consonants correctly.

I was taken through the usual rigmarole such as I had at first experienced at Goch.  The evidence also, as usual, was committed to paper.  It was a perfunctory enquiry, however, and was soon completed.  Naturally upon its conclusion I considered that I would be free to resume my journey.  I turned to my interpreter.

“Now this is all over I suppose I can go?”

“Ach! nein zoo tant doh!”

His English was so vile that I thought he said and meant “ah! at nine you can go!”

Seeing that it was about eleven o’clock at the time, I thought I had better hurry in case there was another Flushing-bound train.  So I scuttled towards the door only to receive another heavy clout from the sentry’s rifle.  What the interpreter really said was “Ah!  No, you can’t go!” As I rubbed my bruised head I treated that interpreter to a candid opinion of his English speaking qualifications, but he did not understand half what I said.

As I realised nothing further could be done that night I lay down to snatch another rest.  But after midnight my trials and troubles increased.  Every few minutes the door would rattle and be clanked open to admit an officer who had brought a number of friends to see the latest sensation—­the English spies.  The friends, who were brother-officers, regarded us with a strange interest, while the officer who had charge of me strutted to and fro like a peacock drawn to his full height, at the unique greatness thrust upon him, and dwelling at great length upon the enormity of our offence related a weird story about my capture.