ALL was silent around us. The rain ceased. The park lay wrapped in darkness, and only the light of the huge arc-lamps, which lit up the night-boundary, streamed faintly towards us. The dull sound of the sentries’ footsteps as they paced up and down in front of their boxes, and their calls to each other every quarter of an hour, sounded uncanny in the stillness. At midnight the guard was changed, and I followed it with strained attention. Upon this, the orderly officer flashed his lamp over the day-boundary, and at 12.30 a.m. quiet reigned again.
The moment for action had arrived. I crept softly as a cat from my hiding-place, through the park up to the barbed-wire fence, to convince myself that no sentries were about. When I saw that everything was in order and had found the exact spot where we wanted to climb over, I crawled back again to fetch Trefftz. Thereupon we returned by the same way.
When we reached the fence, I gave Trefftz my final instructions and handed him my small bundle.
I was the first to climb over the fence, which was about 9 feet high, and every 8 inches the wire was covered with long spikes.
Wires charged with electricity were placed 2½ feet from the ground. A mere touch would have sufficed to set in motion a system of bells that would, of course, have given the alarm to the whole camp. We wore leather leggings as protection against the spikes; round our knees we had wound puttees, and we wore leather gloves.
But all these precautions were of no avail, and we got badly scratched by the spikes. However, they prevented us from slipping and coming in contact with the electric wires. I easily swung myself over the first fence. Trefftz handed over our two bundles and followed me with equal ease.
Next we were confronted by a wire obstacle, 3 feet high by 30 feet wide, contrived according to the latest and most cunning devices. We ran over it like cats. After this we again came to a high barbed-wire hedge, built on exactly the same lines as the first, and also electrically charged. We managed this too, except that I tore a piece out of the seat of my trousers, which I had to retrieve, in order to put it in again later.
But, thank God, we were over the boundary!
Trefftz and I clasped hands and looked at each other in silence.
But now the chief difficulty began. Cautiously we went forward in the darkness, crossing a stream, climbing over a wall, jumping into a deep ditch, and at last slunk past the guard-house which stood at the entrance to the camp. Only after that were we in the open.