. Yet there
were many who preferred the unsalubrious and draughty stalls to the loft
overhead, and prices for the former ruled high, as much as 100
marks--L5--being freely given for this accommodation. This speculation
in the quarters for the prisoners constituted one of the greatest
scandals of the camp during its early days, inasmuch as it acted
unfairly against those who were "broke." Who pocketed this money we
never learned, but there was a very shrewd suspicion that certain
persons were far from being scrupulous and did not hesitate to pursue
their usual shark tactics, even under such circumstances.

K---- and myself were compelled to shake ourselves down in the loft. It
was reached by a creaking and crazy wooden staircase. Gaining the upper
regions we nearly encountered disaster. The loft was practically void of
natural illumination, the result being a kind of perpetual dismal
gloom, which to us, coming out of the broad daylight, appeared to be
darkness until our eyes grew accustomed to it.

The floor was of stone or concrete and in the centre of the space the
height from floor to the highest point of the gable roof was about 7
feet, sloping to 4 feet 6 inches at the sides.

The authorities cannot be credited with being liberal in assigning us
space. The roof rafters were spaced 10 feet apart and between each two
of these five men had to shake down their beds. Thus each was given a
space 2 feet in width by 6 feet in length in which to make himself at
home and to stow his belongings. The quarters were so cramped that to
dress and undress it was necessary to stand in the centre of the gangway
which ran down the middle of the loft. Once in bed it was almost
impossible to turn over. To make matters worse the roof was far from
being watertight and when a heavy shower swept over us the water would
trickle and drip through, while the slits in the wall allowed the wind
to whistle and rush into the loft with ear-cutting force.

When we entered into possession the floor was perfectly bare, but we
were given a miserable allowance of trusses of straw, each of which was
divided up sparingly between so many men. This we threw loosely upon the
floor to form a couch, but the allowance was so inadequate that no man
could keep himself warm, because the cold from the stone drove through
the thin covering, while it was quite out of the question to find
comfort.

Only a few blankets were served out. I, myself, made eighteen disti