interpreter tended to lean unduly towards me, he himself would be in
serious jeopardy. Later, during the trial, I discovered that the Clerk
spoke and understood English as well as I did. It was a telling
illustration of the German practice of spying upon one another.

The first part of the trial was taken up with a repetition of the
numerous questions I had already answered times out of number,
accompanied by a more searching cross-examination. As the trial
proceeded I saw that the authorities had collected every vestige of
evidence from every official who had questioned me and with whom I had
held any conversation.

There was one exciting moment. An officer, evidently of high rank,
entered the room. He looked at me in a manner which I resented. With a
sneering grin he enquired,

"Englander? Ha! Ha! Spion? What are you doing here?"

"I have come at the pressing invitation of four gentlemen with four
points!" I suavely replied.

This sly allusion to the four soldiers with their bayonets lashed the
interrupting officer to fury. The whole court indulged in a wild and
loud conversation. The chairman waved his arm wildly. Before I grasped
what had happened the soldiers closed round me, I was roughly turned
round, and to the accompaniment of liberal buffeting was hustled down
the steps to my cell.

A few minutes later my interpreter came to me.