"Please be good enough to have a look at my papers, and then...." "Papers? Papers? Yes, of course you all have papers; all those villains who shot at our men at Visé come back from The Netherlands with papers, in order to start afresh. Later on I'll have a look at that stuff. Here, lock him up for the present." He pointed to a couple of soldiers, and they laid hold of me. They took me to a small room, where I was astonished to find two soldiers with revolvers guarding a priest and a peasant. As soon as the door was closed behind me I wished to chat with my fellow-prisoners, for even in prison I was not oblivious of my journalistic duties. But they seemed not at all anxious to have anything to do with me, and I soon understood the reason why. At each question they threw timid glances at the two watch-dogs, and I saw that fear of these made them withhold all information. However, after a good deal of trouble I got to know that the priest was the parish priest, and his companion in misery the burgomaster. They had been taken as hostages, and would suffer punishment for acts the villagers might eventually commit against the German usurpers. I contented myself with this, as I felt that in the circumstances further questions might make things awkward for these two men. What might happen next? Sitting on a chair in a corner of the room I began to consider my position. For the moment it was not agreeable, but by and by those officers might find time to look at my papers. The only thing I bothered about was a map marked with the places where, according to the latest news, the German and French armies were. I kept it in an inside coat-pocket, and it might be found if they should search me. I spent three hours in the small room with my silent companions. At last I was called, and appeared once more before the casual court-martial. "Very well, now give me those papers." Having got them, several officers examined my credentials, and their faces showed that the horizon was a little clearer for me. "Oh, you are a journalist? And what came you here for?" "Well, sir, I wanted to follow, as far as the German Authorities desire to allow it, the movements of the German armies, in order to give reliable information to the Netherland public, who take a great interest in your progress." "Indeed! And did you take notes already? Just let me have a look." The turn things took now was not quite to my liking, and I did not feel very safe when I handed him my scribbling-pad. "I cannot read a word of it! Can you read it at all yourself? Yes? Oh, but I cannot understand it. Translate some of it." That was a relief! I began to translate, taking the liberties to which every translator is entitled. And I succeeded in making a favourable impression by censoring my own manuscript. "Well, that is right enough. But, mind, don't say in your paper that you found troops here, and especially avoid telling which troops." "Very well, sir."