naked, shivering. Uncleanly at best and denied soap here,
the lower class of them neglected all the rules of cleanliness. Their
"non-coms" were the reverse, being almost without exception men of
some education and general attainments.

Upon our return to this camp we were told by a friendly Russian in the
orderly room that the post cards were being held there as evidence
against us. We begged him to give them to us. He did so, and we had
barely finished destroying them when a German officer, accompanied by
a file of men, entered and demanded them. We explained that they had
been destroyed. He would not believe us. We pointed to the charred
ashes. He searched our bodies, our beds and the scanty furnishing of
the hut, naturally without avail. The Russian orderly was severely
admonished and our fire was cut off as punishment.

The treatment at this camp was uniformly bad. The next morning the
_Raus_ blew at four-thirty instead of five, as was customary. While we
were still engaged in dressing the guards rushed in, some with fixed
bayonets, others with them gripped short, as with daggers. The leader
wore a button, the insignia of non-commissioned rank. He gave a
berserker roar of rage and charged furiously at an inoffensive Russian
and stabbed the poor fellow in the neck; while his victim lay back in
pleading terror, with outstretched arms. And then, still roaring, he
slashed a Frenchman who was walking past, on the back of the head.
Going down the hut, he espied Harckum, of the East Lancashire
Regiment, tying his shoes. Without warning he plunged at him, and,
striking, laid open the entire side of the man's face, splitting the
ear so that it hung in two pieces. This was all quite in order because
we were slow in dressing.

The Russians, with the exception of a lucky few who received some from
a Russian society in England, got no parcels, and suffered
accordingly. They were more amenable to discipline than we were, and
perhaps because of their hunger used to go out daily to work on the
moors from daylight until dark. They were a cheerful lot, considering
everything, little given to thinking of their situation and not
blessed by any great love of country nor perhaps the pleasantest
recollections of it; and to that extent at least appeared to be
comparatively satisfied, even under ill treatment. Ill fed as they
were, they used frequently to fall out at their work from sheer
exhaustion, which the Germans said was only lazin