Since the question of food for children became acute here, Richards has been supplying rations to the babies in his neighbourhood. The number has been steadily increasing, and for some time he has been feeding over two hundred youngsters a day. He has been very quiet about it, and hardly anyone has known what he was doing.
It is cheering to see a man who does so much to comfort others; not so much because he weighs the responsibility of his position and fortune, but because he has a great-hearted sympathy and instinctively reaches out to help those in distress. Otherwise the day was pretty black, but it did warm the cockles of my heart to find this simple American putting some real meaning into Christmas for these hundreds of wretched people. He also gave it a deeper meaning for the rest of us.
_Brussels, December 31, 1914_--Here is the end of the vile old year. We could see it out with rejoicing, if there were any prospect of 1915 bringing us anything better. But it doesn't look very bright for Belgium.
_The extracts from this journal have been so voluminous as to preclude bringing the record much farther than the end of 1914. In the main the story of 1915-1916 is in the development of the Commission for Relief in Belgium and the new light shed each day upon German methods and mentality. It is a long story and could not be crowded between the covers of this volume. There is, however, one outstanding event in 1915--the case of Miss Edith Cavell--which is of such interest and so enlightening as to conditions in Belgium under German domination as to warrant its inclusion in this book. At the risk, therefore, of appearing disconnected it has been decided to publish as a final chapter an article in regard to the case of Miss Cavell which has already appeared in the "World's Work."_
On August 5, 1915, Miss Edith Cavell, an Englishwoman, directress of a large nursing home at Brussels, was quietly arrested by the German authorities and confined in the prison of St. Gilles on the charge that she had aided stragglers from the Allied armies to escape across the frontier from Belgium to Holland, furnishing them with money, clothing and information concerning the route to be followed. It was some time before news of Miss Cavell's arrest was received by the American Legation, which was entrusted with the protection of British interests in the occupied portion of Belgium. When the Minister at Brussels received a communication from the Ambassador at London transmitting a note from the Foreign Office stating that Miss Cavell was reported to have been arrested and asking that steps be taken to render her assistance, Mr. Whitlock immediately addressed a note to the German authorities asking whether there was any truth in the report of Miss Cavell's arrest and requesting authorisation for Maître Gaston de Leval, the legal counselor of the Legation, to consult with Miss Cavell and, if desirable, entrust some one with her defense.