After breakfast our journey was continued until the afternoon, when
we halted until eight o'clock. Then we started off again, reaching a
place called Ber Sheba, or Beersheba, about sixty miles from Jaffa, by
the following morning. Here we were all separated, and I was taken to
an Arab hut and given a straw mattress to lie on and a filthy blanket
to cover me. The same meagre fare--native bread and a small piece
of cheese--was again served out to me, and I was left alone. After
spending two days and nights in this wretched shelter I was removed
to another, which I fully made up my mind was to be the last ere I
attempted my escape, which I was continually thinking about.
The stretch of ground allotted to the prisoners-of-war camps was
surrounded by a barbed-wire fence some twelve feet high, having only
one gateway. The camp consisted of about twenty-five huts, the bulk of
these being for the accommodation of the prisoners, and the remainder
for the soldiers. Posted to every four of these buildings was a guard
consisting of several sentries, stationed at a distance of from twenty
to thirty yards from the buildings. Every Friday it was the custom for
the soldiers--who were, of course, Mohammedans--to attend the mosque,
and on these occasions but few sentries were left to guard the camp;
the gate was also allowed to stand open. I therefore decided that, when
I had worked out a plan of escape, I would choose a Friday on which to
attempt it.
In the camp I had the good fortune to come in contact with other
prisoners of war, who generously gave me some of their money, of which
I stood in great need, for I knew that money would be absolutely
necessary to aid my escape. After a short time, having received various
small amounts in this way, I accumulated quite a useful sum.
Although the food was wretched and the accommodation miserable, I must
state in fairness that I received much kindness from different Turkish
officers, who, perceiving that I was sad and anxious, had compassion
on me and tried to console me. When the German officers, however, with
their renowned _kultur_, came to know this, they became enraged, and
forbade the officers to have anything to do with me. There was much bad
feeling, by the way, between the Turks and the Germans, because while
the latter enjoyed plenty of luxuries, the former entirely lacked them,
and received pay which was totally inadequate to their needs.
About this time many wounded soldiers began to arrive at Ber Sheba from
the Egyptian frontier, where, it was very evident, there was "something
doing." They were conveyed to our camp in large baskets--each capable
of holding ten wounded--slung upon the backs of camels. On arrival at
the village, half of the unfortunate occupants were usually dead or
dying as the result of the shaking and jostling occasioned by this
crude method of transport. As it became known that I was a medical
student, my services were utilized, and I attended to the wounded in
the hospital. One might have thought this would have secured me better
treatment, but as a matter of fact I was brutally ill-used, somebody
whom I had offended reporting to the officer commanding that I knocked
the wounded about! This ended my hospital career, and I was at once
placed under arrest and confined to my hut again. The food provided now
consisted of rice, meat, and bread, all served together in a bowl. This
latter turned out to be the bowl of fortune for me, for it occurred to
me that it would make an excellent improvised implement for removing
the earth beneath the wall of my hut, thus providing me with a means of
exit when the time came for my "flitting."