ion to the camp
to watch the daily arrival of the over-laden parcel cart.

Eventually we were ushered into the court, bareheaded, trying very
hard to look meek. The opening questions and formalities took up a lot
of time, and it really was a terrible strain trying not to laugh when
the interpreter solemnly explained to a German captain that one of our
party belonged to the _Middlesex_ Regiment. Before getting to business
our individual conduct sheets were read out, mine being about as black
as it could be. At our request two French majors from Osnabrueck were
present. Both spoke well on our behalf, explaining that this could
only be a quarrel between the French and British in any case, but that
they were delighted at what had occurred, and most certainly did not
wish to prosecute. Everything went in our favour, and, when the
treacling was described, even the presiding Hun general laughed. The
public prosecutor, as usual, asked for the maximum punishment, 600
marks fine or 100 days fortress. Whereupon the court rose and left the
room, looking justice itself. On their return it was announced that
the junior three of our party, who had not actually entered the
Frenchman's room, were let off with a caution, and that all the rest
were each fined five hundred marks, or fifty days in a fortress. This
showed how they wanted our money; of course the whole thing had been
arranged beforehand. On inquiring what the money would go to support
we were told that it would probably be the war loan. A few minutes
later, after leaving in a rebellious mood, we were lucky enough to
meet the two Frenchmen, from whom we learnt that they too had spent
the night in cells in the same prison. Later on I was given to
understand that before a subsequent court-martial two British officers
spent the night on a sort of mattress in a corner of the guardroom.

The return journey was accomplished without incident, except for an
attempt on our part to speak to a captured guardsman, who was loading
trucks, which was promptly squashed by Wolfe snapping out "_Das geht
nicht_." Nevertheless, a tin or two of food found its way out of the
window.

The weather at Clausthal, after a brief interval of snowstorms, became
beautifully warm, and the prospect of spending the summer in the Hartz
Mountains was almost alluring. About this time General Friedrichs (in
charge of prisoners of war) made a speech in the Reichstag, in the
course of which he stated that the Eng