laboured with Harrach and Falkenhausen, without, I am sorry to say, the
slightest success. When Lancken returned he reported that the Military
Governor said that he had acted in this case only after mature
deliberation; that the circumstances of Miss Cavell's offense were of
such character that he considered infliction of the death penalty
imperative. Lancken further explained that under the provisions of
German Military Law, the _Gerichtsherr_ had discretionary power to
accept or to refuse to accept an appeal for clemency; that in this case
the Governor regretted that he must decline to accept the appeal for
clemency or any representations in regard to the matter.
We then brought up again the question of having the Emperor called on
the telephone, but Lancken replied very definitely that the matter had
gone too far; that the sentence had been ratified by the Military
Governor, and that when matters had gone that far, "even the Emperor
himself could not intervene."[13]
[Footnote 13: Although accepted at the time as true, this statement was
later found to be entirely false and is understood to have displeased
the Emperor. The Emperor could have stopped the execution at any
moment.]
He then asked me to take back the note I had presented to him. I at
first demurred, pointing out that this was not an appeal for clemency,
but merely a note to him, transmitting a note to the Governor, which was
itself to be considered the appeal for clemency. I pointed out that this
was especially stated in the Minister's note to him, and tried to
prevail upon him to keep it. He was very insistent, however, and
inasmuch as he had already read the note aloud to us and we knew that he
was aware of its contents, it seemed that there was nothing to be gained
by refusing to accept the note, and I accordingly took it back.
Despite Lancken's very positive statements as to the futility of our
errand, we continued to appeal to every sentiment to secure delay and
time for reconsideration of the case. The Spanish Minister led Lancken
aside and said some things to him that he would have hesitated to say in
the presence of Harrach, Falkenhausen, and de Leval, a Belgian subject.
Lancken squirmed and blustered by turns, but stuck to his refusal. In
the meantime I went after Harrach and Falkenhausen again. This time,
throwing modesty to the winds, I reminded them of some of the things we
had done for German interests at the outbreak of the war; how we had
repatriated thousands of German subjects and cared for their interests;
how during the siege of Antwerp I had repeatedly crossed the lines
during actual fighting at the request of Field Marshal von der Goltz to
look after German interests; how all this service had been rendered
gladly and without thought of reward; that since the beginning of the
war we had never asked a favour of the German authorities and it seemed
incredible that they should now decline to grant us even a day's delay
to discuss the case of a poor woman who was, by her imprisonment,
prevented from doing further harm, and whose execution in the middle of
the night, at the conclusion of a course of trickery and deception, was
nothing short of an affront to civilisation. Even when I was ready to
abandon all hope, de Leval was unable to believe that the German
authorities would persist in their decision, and appealed most
touchingly and feelingly to the sense of pity for which we looked in
vain.
Our efforts were perfectly useless, however, as the three men with whom
we had to deal were so completely callous and indifferent that they were
in no way moved by anything that we could say.
[Illustration: Two illustrations titled "Notes in Miss Cavell's prayer
book"]
We did not stop until after midnight, when it was only too clear that
there was no hope.
It was a bitter business leaving the place feeling that we had failed
and that the little woman was to be led out before a firing squad within
a few hours. But it was worse to go back to the Legation to the little
group of English women who were waiting in my office to learn the result
of our visit. They had been there for nearly four hours while Mrs.
Whitlock and Miss Lamer sat with them and tried to sustain them through
the hours of waiting. There were Mrs. Gahan, wife of the English
chaplain, Miss B., and several nurses from Miss Cavell's school. One was
a little wisp of a thing who had been mothered by Miss Cavell, and was
nearly beside herself with grief. There was no way of breaking the news
to them gently, for they could read the answer in our faces when we came
in. All we could do was to give them each a stiff drink of sherry and
send them home. De Leval was white as death, and I took him back to his
house. I had a splitting headache myself and could not face the idea of
going to bed. I went home and read for awhile, but that was no good, so
I went out and walked the streets, much to the annoyance of German
patrols. I rang the bells of several houses in a desperate desire to
talk to somebody, but could not find a soul--only sleepy and disgruntled
servants. It was a night I should not like to go through again, but it
wore through somehow and I braced up with a cold bath and went to the
Legation for the day's work.
The day brought forth another loathsome fact in connection with the
case. It seems the sentence on Miss Cavell was not pronounced in open
court. Her executioners, apparently in the hope of concealing their
intentions from us, went into her cell and there, behind locked doors,
pronounced sentence upon her. It is all of a piece with the other things
they have done.
Last night Mr. Gahan got a pass and was admitted to see Miss Cavell
shortly before she was taken out and shot. He said she was calm and
prepared and faced the ordeal without a tremor. She was a tiny thing
that looked as though she could be blown away with a breath, but she had
a great spirit. She told Mr. Gahan that soldiers had come to her and
asked to be helped to the frontier; that knowing the risks they ran and
the risks she took, she had helped them. She said she had nothing to
regret, no complaint to make, and that if she had it all to do over
again, she would change nothing. And most pathetic of all was her
statement that she thanked God for the six weeks she had passed in
prison--the nearest approach to rest she had known for years.
They partook together of the Holy Communion, and she who had so little
need of preparation was prepared for death. She was free from resentment
and said: "I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no
hatred or bitterness toward any one."
She was taken out and shot before daybreak.
She was denied the support of her own clergyman at the end, but a German
military chaplain stayed with her and gave her burial within the
precincts of the prison. He did not conceal his admiration and said:
"She was courageous to the end. She professed her Christian faith and
said that she was glad to die for her country. She died like a heroine."
Transcriber's Notes: There are no periods/full stops used for
illustration captions, with 5 exceptions: usually the longer ones.
Following is a list of inconsistently used hyphenated words. They are
left as they were in the book.
battlefield battle-field
businesslike business-like
downtown down-town
farmhouse farm-house
goodwill good-will
motorcycle motor-cycle
nearby near-by