Monsieur Segotin's Story
or a smile, our gratitude to those who had lost everything but life for us; to exercise the Christian duty of showing compassion to an enemy; these things were denied to us. To have given so much as a glass of water to a poor fevered devil, friend or foe, might have been to set our homes ablaze over our heads. It is unnecessary to say that anything that could be construed into concealment of or assistance given to an escaped prisoner was punishable with instant execution. Already, very early in the war, they had gone through Saint Hilaire with a small tooth comb in their search for wounded Belgian and French and English soldiers who might have been concealed. At a given moment a house-to-house visitation had been begun, every street being occupied by German pickets and ten hostages being taken from it. The proclamation which preceded this search had promised death to these hostages should any disorder occur in a street. But no soldiers had been found; no disturbances had occurred; no hostages had been shot. It had proved a very tame affair. Yet it was always possible that a prisoner of war might escape and take refuge in Saint Hilaire. It was necessary to remind us of the danger of harbouring such scoundrels. We were encouraged in our obedience from time to time by the exhibition of great posters which announced the shooting of people in other places who had incurred the displeasure of the Germans by actions of this kind. The names of these unfortunates were printed in large black letters, even
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