hour. Summoned back, a
verdict of "not guilty" was brought in. I was at last acquitted, and
could return to my lonely chamber not as a criminal, but as a
prisoner-of-war!

Leaving the court-room I was called back to shake hands with the judges,
who congratulated me with the acquittal. Thus the trial, which lasted
five days, came to an end. The clouds cleared up. The sun rose. It was
all brightness. I had passed unscathed through the ordeal, to indulge
that night in slumbers calm and sweet.

Just a few days before the trial commenced I was somewhat reassured and
encouraged to hope for the best. An unknown friend kindly dropped a
newspaper cutting, tied to a piece of stone, over the prison yard. This
press-cutting fell into my hands, and in it I saw that a large section
of the British public strongly disapproved of the action of the
Military Government _re_ late Commandant Scheepers, and that section and
people all over the continent and in the United States of America were
asking, "What about Kritzinger--will he too be shot?" I noticed also
that petitions on my behalf were being drawn up in England and
elsewhere, and signed extensively.

All the men and women who so petitioned His Majesty the King to spare my
life I thank most sincerely, for the interest shown in my case, and for
the efforts put forth to save my life. How much I owe such I do not
fully know; but I do appreciate the deed of kindness shown to me in the
darkest moments of my life. Such deeds are never forgotten. They
illuminate life's way with such splendour as fills the soul with
inexpressible gratitude.

I have related the story of my trial briefly and as accurately as I
could. I do not wish to comment on the justice or injustice of the
proceedings. It is for others to judge whether an officer, who was a
burgher of the Orange Free State, and _not_ a rebel, should have been
court-martialled, and while the war was still in progress, on such
unfounded charges. I shall not say whether I consider it just and fair
that, tried as a prisoner-of-war and acquitted as such, I should have
had to pay a bill of L226 for my defence. What if a prisoner does not
possess the means to secure legal defence? Must he then be condemned
without it? Has this not been done in certain cases? I shall ask no more
questions. I did not mind the money, but was only too glad to inhale
once more air not pregnant with death and destruction.

Our object in mentioning these details is