That night about nine o'clock there was a knock at my hut door. I opened it and saw a sergeant with a man. The sergeant said, "Sir, Private Wagner would like to speak to you." I told the sergeant that he could go and that I would speak to Private Wagner alone. Wagner informed me that he was, to use the slang expression, "fed up" with camp life and that he wanted to get over to France with the first draft. He begged of me to see that his name was placed on the list. This I did for him and later on he left the reserve battalion two months before I reached France.
When I reached my fighting unit in France I was very much surprised to see Wagner working in the battalion orderly room. He seemed surprised and also pleased to meet me, and asked me if I would have him transferred to my platoon, which I did.
He told me if at any time I had to draw a cross section of a map, which is often done by us when we intend attacking a German position, he would be pleased to do it for me. Although I knew he could make an excellent sketch, I thought it would not be a wise thing to allow any of the men under me to know too much of our plans in case they should be taken prisoners by the Germans.
As I pondered over the past history of what I knew of this man, it all came vividly back to my mind. His smile as he saluted and passed along to the right to get his entrenching tool and the manner that he had said "enemy of ours" in the dining-room in Montreal. Suddenly on our right flank the Germans began to send up some red rockets and then a few golden sprays. Word was passed along to send up our S.O.S. I asked who had sent the message. The man to my right said he did not know. I then jumped out of the trench and walked along the parados. I found that five men from my right had received this message and the sixth man was Wagner, and the man next to him did not know anything about it. We act quickly at the front; we take no chances. I interrogated Wagner, but he disclaimed any knowledge of the message.
I was not satisfied with this answer. Although I had known him so long, the various little incidents which had transpired during our association now firmly convinced me that he was a German. I immediately placed him under arrest with a strong guard over him, although I may say that I felt like killing him on the spot.