MY SECRET MIDNIGHT TRIAL
It was Wednesday evening. I should judge the hour was about eight,
although to me it appeared to be nearer midnight. I was lying upon my
planks thinking and wondering what the end of it would be. My head was
whirling with giddiness from the eternal pacing, and from the wound
which I had received, while I was faint from hunger, having eaten
nothing since the lunch on the train on Monday, save for the two small
rolls upon Wesel station. I had not refused the prison fare from
feelings of obstinacy, but simply because my stomach revolted at it. The
untouched basins were still standing beside me in a row, the one which
had been served first now commencing to emit distinct signs of its
staleness.
The door opened, but I ignored it. In fact I was in a semi-comatose
condition.
"Rouse! Get up!" growled the head gaoler.
I struggled to a sitting posture and looked up. Standing beside me was a
military officer. I could not repress a start. But the absence of
arrogance somewhat reassured me, and I struggled to my feet.
"Herr Mahoney," he commenced, "a serious view has been taken of your
case. However, as you have money the authorities are prepared to give
you every chance to prove your innocence. You can have counsel if you
choose. I can arrange it at once!"
I reflected for a moment. The crisis had been reached at last, and the
moment for which I had been longing for bracing myself up to meet the
supreme ordeal had arrived. I decided to maintain a stiff upper lip.
Yet, in all fairness I must admit that the authorities were treating me
justly. Here was I, an absolute stranger in their country, ignorant of
the language beyond a few colloquialisms, and in the most dangerous
situation in which a man could possibly find himself.
Yet I did not regard the offer favourably. I feared that it was a move
to trap me decisively. I should be at the mercy of counsel. This was the
thought which harassed me. However, subsequently, I discovered that
throughout that Wednesday the trials of other spies had been held, and
that in no other instance, so far as I could ascertain, had the
privilege of representation by counsel been extended. But I swiftly made
up my mind as to my course of action.
"Thank you for the offer," I retorted at last, "but I prefer to
undertake my own defence. Besides I am absolutely innocent and it will
not be a difficult matter for me to convince the Court."
"As you will," and the officer shrugged his shoulders.
He went to the door, and at his command four soldiers came up with
loaded rifles. They closed around me, their bayonets levelled, to run me
through should I make an attempt to escape. We marched out of the cell.
Up, up, up, we went, the steps appearing to be interminable. I walked as
if in a dream, and being faint and weary I moved somewhat slowly. But,
strange to say, my escort did not hurry me. I was certainly shown every
consideration upon this occasion. During the procession I was thinking
hard and swiftly, and with a superhuman effort pulled myself together
for the coming fight for life.
We entered a spacious, well-lighted room. At the opposite end was a long
table set transversely, around three sides of which were seated a number
of military dignitaries. That they were of considerable eminence was
evident from their prodigal array of decorations. They glanced at me as
I entered, but instantly resumed their low conversation and perusal of
documents and other material connected with my case. It did not require
a second thought to realise the importance of this court-martial, but I
felt somewhat perturbed at one circumstance.
_My trial was to be held in secret._
I was made to take up a position some distance from the table and
immediately opposite the central figure who was acting as chairman and
inquisitor-in-chief. The soldiers formed a semi-circle around me, the
only open space being immediately before me.
At this date I often reflect upon the strange and sorry sight I must
have presented. I was dressed in a frock coat which was sadly soiled, a
white waistcoat extremely dirty and blood-stained, and trousers sadly
frayed at the bottom where the searchers had ripped off the turn-ups. I
was without a shirt, having torn this up to bandage my head, which even
now was swathed in a dirty, blood-stained dressing, while the buttons
had become detached from my under-vest so that the soiled ends flapped
over my waistcoat. My face was none too clean, being besmirched with
smudges, since I had been denied the luxuries of soap and towel, and it
was covered with a stubbly growth. Altogether I must have been the most
sorry-looking, if not revolting specimen of a spy ever arraigned before
that immaculate Tribunal.
It is useless to relate the trial in extenso because there were so many
details which were completely void of interest except to me and my
judges. Although every word, passage, and scene is burned into my brain
I have only committed the most important episodes to paper. The
proceedings opened with the chairman holding forth in monotone German.
Seeing that I took no notice of his tirade he paused. We were soon to
come to grips. He fired at me in English:
"You understand German?"
"No!"
"Well, we think you do!"
"You are at liberty to think what you like, but the fact remains that I
don't!"
Seeing that I was not to be over-awed by his arrogance or to be
brow-beaten he modified his attitude. This spirited bout sobered the
tribunal, and the trial proceeded more smoothly, except for a few
outbursts now and again which were sharp and pointed while they lasted.
"Well, we will provide you with an interpreter," he continued in a more
placid tone, "but we still hold the opinion that you can speak and
understand German!"
There was delay for a few minutes. Then the door opened and a second
later my interpreter stood beside me. How it was I did not jump into the
air I do not know, because the man summoned to assist me was none other
than the mysterious prisoner with whom I had been talking in the mute
alphabet.
This _dénouement_ almost unnerved me. I was now more positive than ever
that he had been deputed to spy upon me in prison. I looked at him
askance, but received not the slightest sign of recognition. I had
refused to entrust my cause to counsel and now I was placed in the hands
of an interpreter who, if he so desired, could wreak much more damage by
twisting the translations from English to suit his own ends.
As events proved, however, I could not have been in better hands. He was
highly intelligent, and he interpreted my statements with a fluency and
accuracy which were astonishing. Only now and again did he stumble and
hesitate. This was when he was presented with an unfamiliar expression
or idiomatic sentence.
As the trial proceeded I gained an interesting side-light upon German
methods and the mutual distrust which exists. Ostensibly, and so I was
led to believe, none of the Tribunal spoke English with any fluency, but
when, on one occasion, my interpreter was floored by a particularly
difficult colloquialism which I uttered, the Clerk of the Court came to
his aid, and in a moment turned the sentence properly to convey my
exact meaning. This revelation placed me on my guard more than ever,
because it was brought home to me very convincingly that if my
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.
"Listen to me, English friend. You must not annoy the Court. I am trying
to do all I can for you. I do not think you guilty. But if you are--what
do you call it--h'm----" and he snapped his fingers perplexedly.
"Sarcastic?" I ventured.
"Yes! That's it. If you are sarcastic you make my work very hard!"
"But that officer had nothing to do with the Court, had he? Why did he
interfere with a gratuitous insult?"
"Ah! I see. You don't understand. They will do that. But you must
remember the uniform!"
Further conversation was prevented by the reappearance of the soldiers.
I was to be taken back to the Court. I decided to take my interpreter's
advice, and although I was frequently roused intentionally, I bit my lip
at the insults and choked down sharp retorts.
"Do you realise the nature of the charge and the gravity of your
position?" asked the chairman, after proceedings had been resumed. There
was no trace of resentment at the recent incident in his voice.
"I do perfectly."
"Then do you not think it somewhat strange that a man like you should be
travelling to Berlin, on the way to Warsaw, on the very day when war was
declared against Russia? Is it not strange also that you should be here
after Great Britain has declared war?"
"When I set out for Berlin war had not been declared between Germany and
Russia. On Monday when I was arrested war had not been declared against
Germany by Great Britain. I was arrested on the flimsiest pretext and
upon the word of a deliberately lying youth before war had been declared
with my country!"
"Ah! we shall see. You do not think it strange to be travelling through
Germany at such a perilous time with so much photographic apparatus?"
"No! I was not using it!"
"So you took no photographs in Germany?"
"No!" And the lie flew out in spite of myself. But I felt perfectly
secure because I knew exactly where the film, which I had exposed, was.
It was beyond their reach!
"Then what is this?" And to my surprise he held up somewhat
triumphantly the length of photographic film from the camera with which
I had taken the two farewell pictures of my family.
Up to this point I had successfully maintained a stiff upper lip and
perfect composure. But at the sight of the film carrying the parting
pictures, my thoughts flew to home and its associations. I broke down.
The court was jubilant. My spontaneous outburst of weakness at memories
of home was misconstrued into a recognition of the fact that I had been
trapped.
Amid a silence which was soul-burning and which caused my voice,
quivering at first but rapidly regaining strength and its natural ring,
to echo strangely through the room, I narrated the history of that film.
As I had expected it provoked a fearful wrangle. The fight was sharp and
hot while it lasted, but I thanked my lucky stars that I was not only
well skilled in the technics of photography but the chemistry side as
well. The film in question was sufficient for six exposures. Three had
been made. In addition to the two pictures of my family's farewell which
corresponded to exposures two and three there was another picture, of
archæological interest, concerning a Sussex church, which was exposure
number one. The rest of the film, which would have corresponded to
pictures 4, 5 and 6, had never been exposed.
The film which was held up had been developed by order of the court. The
unexposed portion had been passed through the development processes, and
I experienced a thrill of joy. I saw that I was now on solid ground.
"How did you expose this film?"
"In the usual way. The church was taken first, followed by the two
pictures of my family. The rest of the film has never been exposed."
"That is what you say. But the Court thinks differently. Listen, the two
pictures of your family were taken first and this of the church
last--possibly, indeed probably, in Germany?"
"It was not. No photographer, even the tyro, would pass half a film
through his camera before making an exposure."
For ten minutes we fought tooth and nail over the way in which that film
had been passed through the camera. Then, seeing that they could not
shake my evidence, and doubtless impressed by my vehemence, they turned
round completely to return to the attack.
"Well, granted, as you say, that the church was taken first, the second
half of the film was exposed in Germany. But you, seeing the danger of
your position upon arrest, contrived to ruin these last three pictures
before the camera was taken away from you," snapped the Chairman.
In spite of myself I laughed.
"The second half of the film has never been exposed at all," I rejoined.
"How can you prove that?"
"Very easily. If I had ruined it by exposing it to the light as you
suggest, _the film upon development would have come out black! But it is
quite transparent!_" I replied in triumph.
My retort floored the Court. We were dipping into matters about which
they were completely ignorant. There was a hurried whispering and then
the Chairman commented:
"We'll soon prove that you are wrong!"
Proceedings were suspended. A clerk left the room to return a little
later with a civilian who proved to be a photographer in Wesel.
The problem was presented to him, but I saw at once that he knew nothing
whatever about the chemistry of photography. He was turned over to me
for cross-examination, and within three minutes I had so pulverised his
statements that he was quite bewildered, and he left the Tribunal with
his photographic reputation sadly shattered.
Another witness was summoned, the Court being determined to get at the
bottom of the problem which had been raised. They certainly recognised
the significance of my contention. This time it was a military officer.
He was examined by the Court, and then I was given the liberty to
cross-examine. My very first question was adequate to satisfy myself
that he knew even less about the subject than the previous witness. But
he was nervously anxious not to betray his ignorance. He had been called
in as an expert and fervently desired to maintain this reputation. He
did so by acquiescing in every statement which I put to him concerning
the action of light upon nitrate of silver.
"Now," I asked emphatically, when I had completely caught him, "under
these circumstances, and according to what you have been explaining to
the court, the second half of this film which is transparent has never
been exposed?"
"It has not."
His negative was so emphatic as to convince the Court. I had scored the
crucial point and felt, now my supreme difficulty had been subjugated so
conclusively, that all was plain sailing. It was only too evident that
everything had turned upon that short length of unexposed film, and I
felt devoutly thankful to Providence that the light had not accidentally
penetrated to the sensitised surface. Had the unexposed section been
black my fate would have been irrevocably sealed.
Now I was asked to present my defence.
"Can you give us a complete and detailed narrative of your journey, say
from the time you left Brighton by the 5.10 p.m. train, on Saturday,
August 1, up to your arrest."
I nodded affirmatively.
"Well, go ahead!"
Forthwith I launched out. I am naturally a rapid speaker and although my
interpreter was confronted with a gigantic task, he performed his work
magnificently. Only once or twice did he falter for a moment or two. But
I was never interrupted nor asked to repeat a statement, so that the
thread of my story remained unbroken. For two hours and a half I spoke
and I think the readiness and clearness with which I proceeded must have
impressed the Court. As I warmed to the subject my head grew clearer and
clearer. I knew I was fighting for my life, but the whole of the
episodes and scenes during the critical fifty odd hours passed through
my mind as if delineated upon a continuous cinematograph ribbon of film.
Midnight had passed before I had finished. The clerks of the Court had
been steadily writing during the whole period, and I knew that every
word I had uttered had been faithfully recorded. The Tribunal gave a
sigh of relief as I intimated that I had nothing more to say. I was
returned to my cell, accompanied by my interpreter, whom I thanked for
his assistance which I could never repay. The Court might decide what it
liked. I had put up a stiff fight and could do no more. I thought I was
to be left alone for the night. I was sorely in need of rest, and the
nervous tension under which I had been labouring now began to reveal
itself. The reaction commenced to set in. But there was no rest for me
yet. Hardly had I sat down upon my plank bed before I was re-summoned.
By this time I was so weak that I could hardly stand. The perspiration
was pouring out all over my body. Indeed, I had to be assisted up the
stairs.
To my utter surprise, when I entered the court, I found the record of my
defence completed. There it was in a pile of neatly inscribed sheets,
numbered, and secured together. The Chairman pushed the depositions
before me.
"Sign here," and he indicated the foot of the last page.
I picked up the papers. They were in German. I returned them unsigned to
the table.
"I decline!" I replied emphatically.
"But you must!"
"Well, I shall not. I don't understand German. I don't know what it's
about!"
"It's your defence!"
"So it may be, but I have only your word for that. I decline to sign
anything I do not understand. It may be my death warrant!"
"If you don't sign I can tell you that we have means of making you do
so," he continued somewhat menacingly.
"I don't care. You can do as you like, but I am not going to sign those
papers."
My determination provoked another animated discussion. Finally another
pile was pushed towards me, I could not curb a start. It was my defence
written throughout in English, and had undoubtedly been written
simultaneously with the German version. I eyed the Clerk of the Court
narrowly and he returned the gaze just as keenly.
I ran through the depositions. They were perfect. Picking up the pen I
signed my name without hesitation. The signature was inspected, and then
the original German papers were once more presented with the invitation
to sign. Again, I refused.
"But," expostulated the Chairman, "this is a literal German translation
from the English which you have signed!"
"So it may be, but the fact remains that I don't understand German," I
retorted.
Another storm burst, but the Tribunal saw that it was impossible to
shake my resolution. There was another brief discussion. Then the
Chairman turned to one of his colleagues, and in a despairing voice
asked, "Can you suggest a way out of the difficulty?"
"Yes!" I interrupted. "Give the interpreter the German and me the
English copy. Let him translate from the German and I will compare with
the English version."
The offer was accepted, but now another hitch arose. The interpreter
said he did not think he could read off the translation from the German
right away--at least, it would take time.
The Court was in a quandary. Seeing that this unexpected obstacle was
likely to prejudice my position I grabbed the English text and thrust
the German copy into my interpreter's hands. Telling him to go ahead I
remarked that we could make something out of it. We wrestled with the
translation, although it was a slow and tedious operation, but at last
we finished the task. The German depositions being quite in order, and
fairly translated I signed the papers without further ado.
Now I thought the ordeal was over, but it was not. Picking up my signed
depositions the Chairman proceeded to re-examine me on my defence. He
started from the moment I arrived at Flushing and traced my movements,
minute by minute, to Berlin, followed what I did in the capital between
1.30 a.m. the hour of my arrival and 1.13 p.m. the time of my departure.
The manner in which my movements had been dogged was astonishing and I
recalled the individual whom I had noticed shadowing me in the city. I
saw at once that everything turned upon the instant nature of my
answers, so I replied to every question without the slightest hesitation
and to such effect that I never once contradicted myself.
Only one interval, and that of ten minutes in Berlin, threatened to
engulf me. I could scarcely fill up this gap. It happened to be one of
those idle intervals which one can never explain away very readily or
satisfactorily. We disputed this ten minutes vigorously for about half
an hour, and by the time we had finished I do not think there was a
single second for which an account had not been rendered. My interview
with the Consul also precipitated a storm, especially as by this time I
was becoming bored and felt dead-tired. Every question, however,
sufficed to prove that I was firmly considered to be a spy, and a
dangerous one at that. But even the re-examination came to a close at
last.
Now my heart nearly jumped out of my body. The chairman, picking up the
papers which had been taken from my pocket, withdrew a little book. It
was my diary, which was full of notes. The moment I saw its familiar
cover I cursed the inspiration which had prompted me to keep a diary. I
knew what it contained and I knew the cryptic notes therein would bring
about further explosions and protestations. I was not disappointed.
Opening the little book the Chairman enquired innocently:
"What do you mean by things being 'lively' in Berlin?"
"It is a British expression," I retorted, my brain working rapidly to
advance a conclusive reply as I recalled the phrase which I had jotted
down. "We term things 'lively' when say, as in my case, one is first
thrown out of a cab by a officer and shortly afterwards is flung out of
a restaurant!"
"Rather an unusual phrase to use when one recalls the political
situation which prevailed in the capital last Sunday, is it not?"
"Possibly from the German point of view, in the light of events."
"Then you had an enlightening chat with an officer? What was it all
about? How did you open conversation with him?"
"In the usual British manner. We just chatted about things in general."
"Especially of the war between Germany and England?"
"No! Because we were not at war!"
"But the officer advised you to return home! Why?"
"Because I could not get through to Warsaw!"
Other incidents of a spirited character raged about other phrases in the
little book, but I was on the alert. The Chairman evidently considered
me to be a match for him in these wrangles because he speedily put the
diary down.
During the proceedings the Chairman made one frantic endeavour to trap
me, and to prove that I was more fully conversant with the language, as
he confidently believed, than I felt disposed to concede. Something was
being read over to me by the Clerk upon which my thoughts were
concentrated. Suddenly the Chairman roared out a terrifying word in the
vernacular. I never moved a hair. I behaved just as if the Chairman had
merely sneezed. My imperturbability appeared to convince him that I
really did not understand German, because no further reference was made
to the fact. Subsequently my interpreter told me that it was fortunate I
did not understand German or I would certainly have retorted to the
Chairman's sudden interjection. I should not have been human had I not
done so. He refused to tell me what the word was or what it meant, so I
was never a whit the wiser.
At last I was told the proceedings with reference to myself were closed.
I had been on the rack for several hours, and when the gate of my cell
clicked upon me for the last time that eventful evening the morning
hours were well advanced. As my interpreter left me to go to his cell I
enquired wearily, though with a trace of anxiety,
"When shall I know the result?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Perhaps to-morrow. Who knows?"
Personally I felt confident that a speedy release would be granted. It
seemed to me impossible to convict upon the evidence. But I was ignorant
of German ways and military court procedure. I was destined to receive a
greater surprise than any which had yet befallen me.