Dave was among the first to be called out, and a number of Americans and Canadians followed, among them being Ralph Thompson. Oscar Davis was left behind along with a number of others, why, Dave could not surmise.
Without having a chance to say good-bye to those left behind, about thirty of the prisoners were marched away from the horse-stables to a railroad station in a small German village. On the way some boys and girls jeered at them, and one old woman sifted some ashes down on their heads from a second-story window.
Some of these ashes got into Dave’s eyes, almost blinding him. He forgot for the instant where he was walking, and did not realize the situation until one of the guards hit him in the shoulder, almost knocking him over. Had there been the slightest chance of improving his condition thereby, Dave would have leaped upon this guard and pommeled him well. But he knew such an action would have meant death, so he controlled himself as best he could and continued on the march.
At the railroad station they were herded into a small freight-yard, and there received another meal of watery soup and black bread. While they were trying to eat this some of the town folks came down to jeer at them and a few to hurl sticks and stones.
“Being a prisoner is certainly no picnic,” remarked Ralph Thompson.
“I know what I am going to do,” answered Dave, in a low tone of voice. “I am going to break away at the first opportunity that presents itself.”
“They’ll shoot you down if they get the chance.”
“I don’t care—let them shoot!” answered the young lieutenant.
The inhuman treatment which had been accorded him since his capture was beginning to make him reckless. Where the Germans were going to send him next, he could not surmise, but he felt certain they would place him at work, either on one of their roads, or else in one of their mines. There, he knew, he would be made to labor ten or twelve hours a day on the scantiest of food and in all sorts of weather.
“It’s enough to break down a mule,” he reasoned to himself. “I’m not going to stand it! I’m going to do what I can to escape at the very first opportunity.”