ng, in the neutral zone dividing the two
countries. Curiously enough the water dog, whose duty it was to start
the birds from among the reeds, was English and went by the name of
"Tom." Fortunately he was very obedient, for had he once crossed
between the extenuated lines of grey men Tom would have afforded the
Huns some moving target practice, which in all probability would have
resulted in his contributing to a sausage machine. I am sure I do not
know what I should have done if this had happened while I was with the
party, for Tom, when feeling lonely, used to run straight up to me,
wagging his stumpy tail and looking up with eyes which so plainly said
that he was indeed glad to meet a fellow-countryman, for, though
Dutchmen were kind enough to him, the scent was somewhat different.

Towards the end of the afternoon we came to a place where the frontier
line gradually converged, running parallel to, and about twenty-five
yards away from, the canal, just the other side of a dyke at the
bottom of the embankment. It must have been somewhere here that an
unseen hand had unconsciously guided me to safety through the darkness
of the night before. I selected a particularly Hunnish-looking sentry,
who was standing beside a painted black and white box, with a long,
wicked-looking and old-patterned bayonet gleaming above his slung
rifle, and, hailing him casually, remarked that it must be weary work
doing nothing, and inquired if he was tired of the war, to which he
replied with a sullen "_Ja_." Undismayed by his dismal expression, I
inquired if they ever had any escaped prisoners in those parts. This
time he did not deign to answer, but merely shook his head solemnly.
By removing my coat I could have easily disillusioned him, but,
remembering that a rifle bullet is not a thing to be trifled with, I
refrained.

Feeling my triumph complete, I turned and limped away, still hardly
able to realise that only a few hours before I had unknowingly paraded
along the same little raised path which the Germans were so jealously
guarding. Of all my escapes this was the most inexplicable. To what
was it due? Certainly not to my own initiative alone. Man's extremity
is indeed God's opportunity.

* * * * *

Supreme in the world of red tape, far above the ken of misguided
mortals, lives an omnipotent being--the Censor. In imagination, he
sits in a huge armchair, wreathed in tobacco smoke, casually sorting,
fr