"That's strange," he sneered; "perhaps you don't find it convenient
to remember who they are."

Up till now I hadn't the slightest conception of the charge laid
against me. Suddenly the judge crashed into the affair and took
the initiative.

"Why did you offer money to find out the movement of German
troops!" he let go at me across the table in a loud voice.

At the same time his aides converged on me a full, searching
gaze. Going all day without food, for eight hours confined in a fetid
atmosphere, and for two hours grilled by a dozen inquisitors, is an
ordeal calculated to put the nerves of the strongest on edge.

I simply replied, "I didn't do any such thing."

"Don't lie!" "Tell the whole truth!" "Make a clean breast of it!" "No
use holding anything back!" "We have the witnesses who will
swear you did!" "Best thing for you is to tell all you know!"

This fusillade of command and accusation they roared and
bellowed at me, aiming to break down my defense with the
suddenness of the onslaught. They succeeded for a moment. I
couldn't rally my scattered and worn-out wits to think what the
basis of this preposterous charge might be.

Then I remembered a Dutchman who had accosted me the day
before on a street-car. He had volunteered the information that he
was taking people by automobile out through Liege into Holland,