"What a somersault has taken place in the general slippery coalitions
of these capricious provinces! Every Potsdammer, a little while ago,
was counting on Roumania!... The breaking up of the confederation of
the Balkan States under Russian influence was what the Central Powers
required; while the Allies desired a broken Turkey and a strong Balkan
federation under Russian sway able to throw a million men into the
field against Turkey's northwestern frontier so as to keep Austria in
check and allow an easy glide of forces toward the Dardanelles....
Then Roumania was with the Wilhelmstrasse, and Bulgaria was an ally
of the Quay d'Orsay and the Neva, but now the Osmanlian and the Bulgar
and his cousin Fritz are in the same bed snoring at the Romans who
look greedily toward Transylvania!... From what I can see I'm sure
these Bulgars will be first to give up the ghost, although when I talk
to Kovalsky and hear the whine of these Wienfloss Kwabins I feel sure
that they will be first to snap for peace!... I am writing this in
a elaborately furnished dugout that has been abandoned by some German
officers--I KNOW this because I found several tubes of _Erbswurst_
tucked in one of the berths. With a little water I managed to make a
good meal which saved my life,--blessed be the Goths or whoever it was
who invented those compressed sausages!"
12. The next entry: "I'm becoming worried about the size of this
diary ... getting so bulky as to almost prevent concealment in case of
capture.... Yet I know a way to prevent detection ... so simple!...
Usually the most elaborate effort at concealment leads to detection
while the most obvious and simple will be entirely overlooked....
I'll try it and if it goes through I'll patent it!... SOMEONE IS
COMING--sounds like a dozen auto-trucks!... No, it's an _aeroplane_
skirmishing mighty close to my headquarters.... They've _landed_ and
are coming this way!... I'll be READY for them...."
V