who were exposed
to the full fury of the elements through the ferocious and brutal
inhumanity of Major Bach. The little food which had been served out to
us so sparingly failed to keep our bodies warm, let alone fortify us
against the visitation by which we were now being overwhelmed.

The wind increased in fury until at last it was blowing with the force
of a gale. The trees creaked and bent beneath its onslaughts, and those
who had ventured to seek the slight protection afforded by the
overhanging branches, trembled with fear lest the trees should be torn
up by the roots or heavy limbs be wrenched free and tossed among them.

Those who had secured the shelter offered by the solitary marquee and
who, notwithstanding the irrespirable and filthy atmosphere, considered
possible suffocation and the danger of fire to be preferable to the
drenching rain, were confronted with a new and far more terrifying
menace.

The wind catching the broad surface which the tent offered commenced to
flap whatever loose ends of the canvas it could pick up, with a wild,
nerve racking noise. The whole marquee swung and reeled to and fro, the
sport of the boisterous gusts. The main poles creaked as they bent
beneath the enormous strains to which they were being put. The guy
ropes, now thoroughly saturated and having contracted, groaned fiercely
as if about to snap. Hurried efforts were made to slacken the ropes
slightly, but the wind, driving rain, and inky blackness of the night,
as well as the swollen hemp, hindered this task very effectively. Indeed
the tension upon some of the stakes became so acute that they either
snapped or else were uprooted.

As the supports gave way the ungainly marquee commenced to totter and
rock far more threateningly. The wind driving into the interior flapped
the roof madly. The herded humanity within feared that the whole of the
canvas above them would be blown off to be carried away by the gale. The
inmates who had fought so desperately among themselves for the shelter
it offered were now crouching and shivering with fear. Some highly
strung individual raised a cry of danger. The next instant there was a
wild panic which lasted a considerable time. There was a wicked combined
rush to get outside, the men fighting among themselves fiercely.

Outside, upon "the field," bedlam was let loose. The seething mass of
humanity was now soaked to the skin. The men walked up and down, their
teeth chattering madly, in