platform side, and if we were on a line between two platforms, they
opened the doors on both sides so as to rejoice German hearts by the
sight of us. They treated us like wild beasts in a menagerie, and the
officers and soldiers set the example while the women and children were
not behindhand with abuse, and made threatening gestures. Our guards
were applauded as if they were doing something heroic. At one station we
saw a woman looking out of her window and shouting 'Hurrah!' The journey
took 35 hours, and during the whole of that time we were only given food
and drink once, and that thanks only to the Red Cross.[20] We arrived at
Wilhelmshöhe (Cassel) at 3 a.m. on the 28th August, and were made to
walk quickly through the streets. Our arrival had been notified, and in
spite of the early hour, a hostile crowd, abusive and threatening, lined
the route. The old and the lame could not keep up the pace at which we
marched. Their companions helped and dragged them along, constantly
beaten with butt-ends. At length, we arrived at the gaol, where they
shut us in the cells in lots of three or four at a time. M. Brichet
(Inspector of Forests) wanted to take his son (aged 14) with him, but
the gaoler said, 'Not the father and son together.' The prison
authorities showed their surprise at the sort of criminals who had been
entrusted to them, as the bulk of them were shopkeepers and artisans.

"Included in the number were the burgomaster of Dinant, a sheriff,
professors, barristers, and judges. An imbecile, a dozen children of
about 13, and some old men (one of whom was 81) made up the party. At
the end of a week, we were assembled in a yard and told that we were not
under sentence, but were detained in the interests of public safety."

In that prison the poor wretches were treated with much greater severity
than ordinary prisoners, for they were shut up in cells and had no air.
"By climbing on a chest one might open the window and see a little bit