[Footnote 10: Commission for Relief in Belgium. This name was given the original American Relief Committee within a few weeks of its foundation.] Yesterday morning Grant-Watson was put aboard a train and taken to Berlin, where he is to be guarded as a prisoner of war. It is all most outrageous, as Lancken definitely promised that he would not be molested. Moral: get just as far away from these people as you can, while you can, in the knowledge that if they "change their mind," promises won't count. Jeffes is left here for the present and may be released. We shall try to get him off, but in view of what has already happened, cannot be very confident. Jeffes is philosophical and uncomplaining, but naturally is not very happy. * * * * * [Illustration: Appeal of the Queen of the Belgians for help from America I have learned with gratification of the noble and effective work being done by American citizens and officials on behalf of my stricken people. I confidently hope that their efforts will receive that ungrudging support which we have learned to expect from the generous womanhood of America. We mothers of Belgium no less than the mothers of America have for generations instilled in our children the instincts and the love of peace. We asked no greater boon than to live in peace and friendship with all the world. We have provoked no war, yet in defense of our hearthstones, our country has been laid waste from end to end. The flow of commerce has ceased and my people are faced with famine. The terrors of starvation with its consequences of disease and violence menace the unoffending civilian population--the aged, the infirm, the women and the children. American officials and citizens in Belgium and England, alive to their country's traditions, have created an organization under the protection of their government and are already sending food to my people. I hope that they may receive the fullest sympathy and aid from every side. I need not say that I and my people shall always hold in grateful remembrance the proven friendship of America in this hour of need. Elisabeth.] _Brussels, Sunday, December 20, 1914_--Jack got off to London yesterday after a visit of six weeks. Had it not been for the nearness of Christmas and the knowledge that he was needed at home, he would have been prepared to stay on indefinitely. His grief at leaving was genuine. He invested heavily in flowers and chocolates for the people who had been nice to him, endowed all the servants, and left amid the cheers and sobs of the populace. He is a good sort, and I was sorry to see him go. By this time he is probably sitting up in London, telling them all about it.