There came a bubble of laughter, and she knew
that this was a very old acquaintance indeed, a Mrs.
Riddick, whom she had not seen for some time.

"I don't wonder you didn't know me! It's impossible
to see anything by this light. I've been having
such an adventure! I only came back from Holland
yesterday. I went to meet a young niece of mine
there -- you know, the girl who was in Germany so
long."

"In Germany?" Mrs. Otway turned round eagerly.
"Is she with you now? How I should like to see
her!"

"I'm afraid you can't do that. She's gone to Scotland.
I sent her off there last night. Her parents
have been nearly frantic about her!"

"Did she see -- did she hear anything of the English
prisoners while she was in Germany?" Mrs. Otway's
voice sounded strangely pleading in the darkness, and
the other felt a little surprised.

"Oh, no! She was virtually a prisoner herself.
But I hear a good deal of information is coming
through -- I mean unofficial information about our
prisoners. My sister -- you know, Mrs. Vereker -- is
working at that place they've opened in London to
help people whose friends are prisoners in Germany.
She says they sometimes obtain wonderful results.
They work in with the Geneva Red Cross, and from
what I can make out, it's really better to go there
than to write to the Foreign Office. I went and saw
my sister yesterday, when I was coming through London.
I was really most interested in all she told me -- such
pathetic, strange stories, such heart-breaking episodes,
and then now and again something so splendid

[[211]]

p210 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p211w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p212

v?