It must have been somewhere near by, but we saw no signs of it.

Nor did our guides for the day offer to show us its whereabouts.

However, knowing what I do of the German system of doing things, I will venture the assertion that it was snugly hidden and stoutly protected.
These details I had time to take in, when there came across the field to join us a tall young officer with a three weeks' growth of stubby black beard on his face.

A genial and captivating gentleman was Lieutenant Brinkner und Meiningen, and I enjoyed my meeting with him; and often since that day in my thoughts I have wished him well.

However, I doubt whether he will be living by the time these lines see publication.
It is an exciting life a balloon operator in the German Army lives, but it is not, as a rule, a long one.