hile in their charge, and thus adversely affect the low death-rate
reputation of a German prison camp!

Our hair was growing long, owing to the absence of cutting facilities.
Mine had almost reached my shoulders, but I was extremely careful to
submit it to a thorough wash every morning because I shared the fear of
many of my companions that, owing to the congestion of the camp, we
should be overrun with vermin. Undoubtedly Major Bach also anticipated
such a state of affairs, because one morning he appeared upon parade
with a pair of clippers which he had unearthed from somewhere and curtly
commanded every man to submit to a hair-cut.

The position of official barber to the camp was assigned to an
Englishman named L----, who I think might be accurately described as our
official humorist. Armed with this weapon, and although absolutely
ignorant of the new calling thrust upon him, delighted to secure some
change to the monotonous round of toil, L---- entered upon his work
with commendable zest. But he construed the duty into a form of
amusement, and played sorry tricks with the heads which came into his
hands. Some he shaved so clean as to present the appearance of a
billiard ball, but others he evidently considered to be worthy of French
poodle treatment. He took a humorous delight in executing some of the
most fantastic and weird designs it is possible to imagine, much to the
discomfort and chagrin of his unwilling clients. Still his quaint
expression of craftmanship and artistry contributed somewhat to the
restricted hilarity and mirth of the camp.

I, myself, sternly refused to entrust my head to L----'s hands. I
naturally thought that I should receive a smart punishment for thus
flying in the face of the autocratic order which had gone forth, but
strange to say I found Major Bach somewhat reasonable on this point.
This is about the only redeeming feature I can offer concerning Major
Bach's rule over us. I think, however, that he was somewhat more closely
observant than was generally supposed to be the case, because those of
us who escaped the hair-cutting precaution happened to be the very
prisoners who were unremitting in their efforts to preserve unassailable
personal cleanliness. No doubt L---- was disappointed to be deprived of
a few possible heads upon which to demonstrate his quaint skill, but we
succeeded in escaping from his clutches.

Although vermin did overrun the camps, not only of Sennelager, but of
o