I asked every member of our party, in the event of discovering a foreign
article in his bread, to hand it over to me because I had decided to
become a collecting fiend of an unusual type. Contributions were
speedily forthcoming, and they ranged over pieces of dirty straw, three
to four inches in length, fragments of coke, pieces of tree-bark, and
odds and ends of every description--in fact just the extraneous
substances which penetrated into our loft with the mud clinging to our
boots and which, of course, became associated with the loose straw. I
cherished this collection, which by the time I secured my release had
assumed somewhat impressive proportions. I left these relics in safe
keeping near the border, and they will come into my hands upon the
conclusion of the war if not before.

From these strange discoveries I was prompted to make inquisitive
enquiries. I discreetly and in apparent idleness cross-questioned the
guards and any other sources of information which were likely to prove
fruitful. My interrogations were so seemingly innocent as to draw
immediate and comprehensive replies. Stringing these fragments of
information together, it was impossible to come to any conclusion other
than that I had formed in my own mind, namely, that the straw upon which
we had been lying for six months had been whisked off to the granary and
had re-appeared among us in the guise of the staff of life! It was not
conducive to our peace of mind to think we had probably been eating our
beds!

[*large gap]

During the early days, owing to the insufficiency of nutritious food,
we were hard-pressed. There were no canteens, but presently these
appeared and we were able to purchase further limited supplies of food,
at an all but prohibitive price I might mention, because the rascally
German speculators had paid heavily for the privilege of being able to
fleece the British. When, at a later date, we received a weekly
allowance of five shillings, the plight of everyone became eased
materially, although, unfortunately, this sum went a very short way
owing to the extortionate prices which prevailed.

One particularly atrocious scandal was associated with the arrival of
some big crates of comforts sent out to us by one of the philanthropic
missions at home. The local stores suddenly blossomed forth with a huge
and extremely varied stock of wearing apparel--mufflers, socks, and
other articles of which we were in urgent need. I, among othe