mashed potatoes, and sometimes green stuff; and for supper, more
sloppy potatoes.

To satisfy one's hunger on a cold day with such food--which is only
fit for pigs--can only be done by loosening the waistcoat, and half an
hour afterwards one feels as though he had never had a meal.

Prisoners were allowed to receive as many letters as they were lucky
enough to have sent them; and there does not appear to be any
restriction as to the length of the letter.

They are allowed to write two letters of four pages each, and four
post-cards each month. All letters are censored by a staff of censors
in the camp. Outgoing letters and post-cards are held for ten days,
with a view of ascertaining, I believe, whether invisible ink had been
used.

News arrives in the camp principally by the arrival of new prisoners,
who are kept in quarantine for about ten days.

German official bulletins are posted in the anteroom; and the
_Continental News_, which is published in the English language, or
rather disgraces the English language by using it, is delivered daily.
By the bye, the _Continental News_ is a rag of the worst kind, and
contains lies of the worst description.

My orderly came to me one day, and after carefully closing the door,
he drew from under his tunic a few scraps of an English newspaper a
month old.

We devoured the news eagerly, as well as the advertisements, and
passed it quietly around to the other officers.

He had been sweeping up the canteen after the censor had finished
opening up the parcels. One parcel had been wrapped up in the
newspaper, and unthinkingly the censor overlooked it, and tore the
paper into fragments and threw it on the floor.

My orderly, while sweeping, noticed the pieces on the floor. The
censor was in the room, and he went on sweeping until, when the
censor's head was turned, he stooped and, snatching it up, stuffed it
into his tunic.

CHAPTER XXX

COMEDY AND DRAMA

I SALUTE THE WALL. THE STORY OF AN EGG. A NOVEL BANQUET. JOY RIDE ON A
LORRY. THE SWISS COMMISSION

When I arrived at Osnabruck, I found three English orderlies, and to
my surprise and delight, two were men of my own regiment who had been
captured at Gommecourt Wood on July 1.

The commandant came up to visit me the following morning, something
very unusual; but no blind prisoner had ever been confined within the
walls of Osnabruck before, and I suppose I was an object of interest.

I heard Rogan say, "C