Then I opened the subject.
"'I believe you distribute the bread rations to the prisoners ?" I said.
"He nodded.
"'I want one special loaf which is rather better bread than the rest, though it looks the same, to reach a prisoner who is a friend of mine.

It may be that I shall want two or three such loaves to reach him, and I will not mind paying a hundred francs for each loaf.' "'A hundred francs is a good sum,' he said, 'especially as our pay is generally some months in arrear; and there can be no harm in a prisoner getting one loaf, more than another.

But how am I to know which is the loaf ?' "'It will be the last the baker's man will deliver to you, my friend.

He will give you a wink as he hands it to you, and you will only have to put it on the tray intended for the English prisoner, Ryan, when the sergeant comes down to the kitchen for it.

But mind, don't make any mistake and put it on the wrong tray.' "'I will be careful,' the soldier said, 'and I don't mind how many loaves you send in, at the same price.' "'Very well,' I said.