She was interrogated in German, which an interpreter translated into French, with which tongue she was perfectly familiar. She spoke without trembling, and exhibited a clear and acute mind. Often she added some greater precision to her previous depositions. Her answers were always direct and unhesitating. When the Military Prosecutor inquired why she had helped soldiers to go to England, the reply came promptly: 'If I had not done so they would have been shot. I thought I was only doing my duty in saving their lives.' 'That may be true so far as British soldiers were concerned,' agreed the interlocutor, 'but it did not apply to young Belgians. Why did you help them to cross the frontier, when they would have been perfectly free and safe in staying here?' Miss Cavell treated this question with the silent contempt it deserved. She knew only too well what freedom and safety had been accorded to many Belgians of military age who had been found in their own desecrated fatherland. She not only admitted that she had assisted refugees to escape, but she acknowledged that she had received letters of thanks from those who had reached England in safety. This was a vital admission. German evidence alone could have charged her with an 'attempt' to commit the crime, but the letters of thanks conclusively proved that she had 'committed' the offence. Among the other prisoners, M. Philippe Bancq was equally fearless. Without a quaver he admitted that he had assisted young Belgians to escape and rejoin their army. 'As a good Belgian patriot,' said he, 'I am ready to lay down my life for my country.' The Military Prosecutor demanded that the death penalty be passed upon Nurse Cavell and eight other prisoners. Whether the Englishwoman's compassionate conduct that was her offence and her heroic bearing under trial made an impression on her judges, one cannot tell. Their apparent disagreement may only have been a theatrical adjunct to the tragedy which Baron von Bissing had staged with consummate care. It may have been that they lacked the moral courage to pronounce sentence in her presence. In any case, judgement was postponed. In an ordinary trial this respite would have given play to hope, the miserable man's god, which keeps the soul from sinking in despair. But hope could neither flatter nor deceive Edith Cavell as she was led back under escort to her cell to wait--to wait for the assured condemnation that her eyes of courage must have perceived at the end of the cul-de-sac of German infamy. VI THE FIGHT FOR A LIFE