Evening star., 1914-12-13
PLUCKY ENGLlSEAWOMAN GAINS M

eral would allow no one to leave Brus-
sells Only to Nenlo, in Holland. could
passes be given. This was better than
nothing, and, securing the only taxicab
we had seen in Brussels, we set forth
from our hotel at pm Monday, August
2f, with our be-Germanized passports
We were told that we took our lives
in our hands. as we should be passing
through the enemy's lines continuously
till We reached the Dutch frontier But
as far as 1 was concerned there was
nothing heroic about this, for ! knew
i should be much more uncomfortable if
L stayed quiescently in Brussels than if
] went through a few physical risks and
discomforts in trying to do what any
man in my position would have done
without hesitation
We arrived at Hasselt at am. and
halted at cafe in front of the station
for some breakfast, and were about to
continue our journey when our chauffeur,
Belgian boy Of eighteen, told us he
couldn't get the taxi to start Mean
while, thee soldiers guarding the station
swarmed around us. an officer looked at
our passports, was dissatisfied, said the
stamped seal was worthless and that We
were spies, and. shouting for six SOL
diers. who full-cocked their rifles and
You are prisoners he said, curtly.
If you talk to each other. or if you
move you'll be shot Immediately.
We waited during an hour for orders
from the commandant, and were then
marched as prisoners TO the Hotel de
Vile. Here we were stripped and ex-
amined. our luggage was searched and
all papers and money taken from US. and
at 5 pm. we were marched to the rail-
way station, made to enter a luggage
atf tn
thus taken by our guard of six soldiers
TO Tongres Al Tongres we were again
marched to the Hotel de Vile. Here we
were met by the major in command
who was told that we had been arrested
as spies.
".English? he asked.
ia, mein Herr Major-wir sind
Englisch.' replied cheerfully. for
these German officers were such bull
lies everything depended on showing
that one was not afraid.
All" said theh major. jubilantly,
'das wird mir sehr angenehm sein!'
(That will be very agreeable to me)
We went through the farce of YER
bal examination, and / showed him
all my papers relating to my intended
hospital work, but he refused to look
at them.
II have no time for proofs-you are
spies-I suppose you know the fate of
spies? Twenty-four hours. Whether
you're in the right or in the wrong
you are English. and this is a war of
annihilation.'
we were taken upstairs and spent
the night lying upon straw in an
empty room, and expected at dawn to
be called out and shot. But owing, as
we believe. to the intervention of an
other officer, who was, he told US,
married to an Englishwoman, we were
told next day that we were to go by
train as prisoners to Cologne. At
Liege all our papers were snatched
from our guard by an excited mob of
officers and soldiers, who nearly
lynched us when they heard we were
English, and we had eventually to go
on to Aachen without any of the pa
pers, which alone could prove that we
were what we said we were.
"At Aachen we were marched to the
arrest cells in the military barracks,
accompanied by the population, who
booed and Missed and called US Eng
lish dogs and other opprobrious epi-
thets. Here again we slept on vermin-
Gus straw and the next day went once
more through the routine of being
stripped and searched. Each of US was
brought separately before the judicial
officer. If found guilty, we should,
we were told, be shot: if mercy was
extended. our fate would he at least
three years in German fortress. and