thereby, the
temptation is considerable. Let these be obtained at the expense of the
enemy, and the temptation is greater still. Some German girls were being
taken back to Germany. An officer asked a girl what kind of a time she
had in England. "Oh, dreadful," she replied at first. It was the way to
gain kudos. But generosity came to her rescue, she repented and
corrected herself: "No, perfectly lovely," she said, "everyone was good
to us."[12] There are many on both sides who would not repent, but would
make capital out of their interlocutor's ignorance.

RUMOURS.

Rumours, of course, still continue. They will continue as long as
passions run high. There was a rumour of smallpox at Ruhleben. The
English Captain of the Camp wrote to say: "There have been no cases of
smallpox since the camp was started here." There were repeated rumours
that parcels were not delivered. An appeal was made to the Director of
the Press Bureau by C.Q.M.S. J. R. Wheeler of the 2nd Wilts. Regt.,
prisoner at Goettingen. He pointed out that these rumours (apparently
confirmed by postal officials) were totally unfounded. "Parcels arrive
safely, and are issued to men often within a couple of hours of being
received from the Post Office." The same matter is dealt with by U.S.
representatives, but, as the Swiss delegate, Arthur Eugster, remarks,
even neutral reports are in these days distrusted. In fact, often it is
only what seems to confirm the worst suspicions that is believed. Mr.
Wheeler points out that "the packing of parcels leaves much to be
desired; in many cases a cake is put in a cardboard box and lightly
wrapped up in brown paper," a statement that is important in view of the
common opinion that British parcels were specially maltreated. The idea
of differential treatment had indeed become an obsession. An example of
the extraordinary nonsense that is believed is the story that "on the
hospital ship, Oxfordshire, on March 19, sixty wounded British soldiers,
the majority of them from the Black Watch and 6th Gordon regiments, were
taken out of their cots to make room for sixty Germans ... and that, in
addition, the Germans were supplied with fresh eggs and bread, while the
British wounded soldiers had only biscuits." All this was the subject of
a grave question in Parliament. The story was, of course, without
foundation, but, according to Mr. Tennant himself, "it had obtained
widespread credence." Marvellous indeed is the credulity of