Cotton was ordered to return to Osnabruck, and was replaced by a German orderly. An armed guard was placed outside my bedroom door, day and night, and whenever I took exercise in the garden, I could hear his footsteps behind me, following me wherever I went, and spitting on the ground every two or three yards. On the second day after my arrival, I went for my final examination, and the medical officer told me he would send his sergeant-major, who could speak good English, to have a talk with me that evening. What did that mean? Why should he want to talk to me? I became suspicious and awaited his coming with some uneasiness. He arrived about 7 o'clock that evening, bringing a friend and two bottles of wine. They opened the wine and we smoked together. Conversation was going to be very difficult. I felt I was going to be pumped for information. It was going to be a battle of wits--I could feel it in my veins. I made up my mind to be pleasant and tactful and meet every question by asking one. As a matter of fact, I was mistaken. They were Germans who had lived in England and worked at the Deutsche Bank in George Yard, Lombard Street, until war broke out, and had lived in Highbury. I soon found out that they were not bad fellows at all, although their opening conversation did put my back up, and make me suspicious. "London must be full of soldiers?" I replied cautiously: "Well, I suppose the big cities, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, must all be full of soldiers these days." "But what do the English people really think about the cause of the war?" "Well," I replied evasively, "it's difficult to say, because people in England who talk, don't think; and people who think, don't talk." "Well, do you think when the war is over there will be any hard feeling? Do you think things will settle down, and we shall be able to live there again as we did before?" "Well, that depends upon the people's feelings after the war." "You know, we cannot understand the English people; you are very hard to understand, the way you do things." "How so?" "Well, look at the way you have got your army together. It's marvellous; we all admit it. It surprised us. "Look at your colonies. We thought Canada and Australia would break away; or at the very best, would not send over more than about 50,000 men. "But what we cannot understand is why a country which can organise and handle such an enormous army, is unable to manage its civilian population." "In what way do you mean?" "Well, look at Ireland; fancy allowing that sort of thing! And the strikes you have! You build an army, and then allow your people to hinder it by striking." "How can you help it?" "You don't find strikes in Germany, because we organise our civil population for war, as well as the military population.