The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1912-1921, 1918-07-06

them on his bald head. IL would have
been more than a touch, l am afraid
If 1 could have gotten away with it
safely.
As the officers seated themselves,
a waiter came to us with printed
bill-of fare and program. Fortunately.
he waited on the others first ard I
listened intently to their orders. The
officers ordered some light wine, but
my Belgian neighbor ordered Book
for himself and his wife. which was
what had decided to order anyway,
as that was the only thing could say.
Heaven knows would far rather have
ordered something to eat, and l was
afraid to take chance at the pronun-
citation of the dishes it set forth.
There were a number of drinks listed
which l might safely enough have or
dered. For instance, Noticed Lemon
Squash, 1.50," Ginger Beer, L."
Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale, L."
| "Appolinaris, L." and "Schweppes
Soda, ESQ" but 1t occurred to me that
the mere fact that | selected some.
thing that was listed in English might
attract attention to me and something
| In my pronunciation might give fur
Their cause for suspicion.
1t seemed better to parrot the Bel
gian and order Book" and that was
what / decided to do
One item on the bill of fare tanta-
lied me considerably. Although 1t was
listed among the "Prizzen der
iranken," which / took to mean
Prices of drinks" it sounded very.
much to me like something to eat,
| and Heaven knows l would rather
nave had one honest mouthful OF
food than all the drinks in the world.
The item l refer to was "Dubbel Ger
stein de Flesch (Michaux)." A double
portion of anything would have been
mighty welcome TO me, but | would
| have been content with II single ger
to ask for it.
To keep myself as composed as pos
| sibIe / devoted a lot of attention to
that bill-of-fare, and / think by the
time the waiter came around / almost
knew 1t by heart. One drink that al
most made me laugh aloud was listed
| as "Lemonades gazeuses," but / might
as we'll have introduced myself to the
German officers by my right name and
rank as attempt to pronounce 1t.
When the waiter came to me, there
fore, l said "Bock" as casually us /
could, and ! felt somewhat relieved
that / had gotten through that part of
the ordeal so easily.
While the waiter was away had a
chance to examine the bill-of-fare and
observed that glass of beer cost so
confines. The smalL hange had
was a two-mark paper bill.
Apparently the German officers were
similarly fixed and when they offered
their bill TO the waiter, he handed 1t
back to them with remark which /
took to mean that he couldn't make
change. 4t3s1sf e
Right there was In quandary. TO
offer him my bill after he had Just
told the officers he didn't have change
would have seemed strange, and yet l
| couldn't explain to him that I was in
| the same boat and he would have to
|. come to me again later. The only
| thing to do therefore, was to offer
! him the bill as though | hadn't heard
or noticed what had happened with
the Germans, and | did so. He said
+. the same thing to me as he had said
| to the officers, perhaps a little more
| sharply, and gave me back the bill.
| Later on, he returned to the table with
handful of change and we closed the
| transaction. | gave him % centimes
as tip had never yet been to q
! place where it was necessary to talk
to do that
During my first half hour in that
| theatre, to say / was on pins and
| needles is to express my feelings
| mildly. The truth of the matter Is
| was never so uneasy in my life. Every
minute seemed like an hour. and a
dozen times | was on the point of get
| ting up and leaving. There We're al
! together too many soldiers in the place
to suit me, and when the German Of
ficers seated themselves right at my
! table | thought that was about all /
could stand. As 1t was, however, the
| lights went out shortly afterwards and
| In the dark / felt considerably easier.
| After the first picture, when the
lights went up again, | had regalned
my composure considerably and | took
| advantage of the opportunity to study
the various types of people in the
| place.
From my seat / had splendid
| chance to see them all. At one table
there was o German medical corps Of
| ficer with three Red Cross nurses.
| That was the only time had ever
seen a German nurse, for when was
In the hospital l had seen only men
| orderlies. Nurses didn't work so near
| the first line trenches.
The German soldiers at the different
tables were very quiet and orderly.
They drank book beer aud conversed
among themselves but there was 10