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62 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
When all the officers had received their decorations, the
reward for their bravery, the turn came of the soldiers, the
ceremony being precisely the same as with the officers ; but
I found it hard to distinguish what the soldiers said in their
loud, rough and nervous voices. At last I distinguished the
words : Danke untertänigsi Kaiserliche Hoheit (I humbly
thank your Imperial Highness).
When the knights of the Iron Cross had taken their depar-
ture, we went down into the hall, where the Crown Prince
stepped up to me and bade me heartily welcome to his Head-
quarters and to the seat of war. The meal, which might as
well have been called dinner as supper, was attended by
the following gentlemen : Lieutenant-General Schmidt von
Knobelsdorff, Chief of Staff of the 5th Army, Court-Marshal von
Behr, Chief of the Medical Corps, Body-Physician Professor
Widenmann, Majors von der Planitz, von Miiller, personal
Adjutant to H.I. & R.H., and He5nnann, Lieutenant von
Zobeltitz and a few members of the Staff, who arrived later
after the day’s work in the field and took their seats at the
lower end of the table.
Would you like to know what the German Crown Prince, the
Crown Prince of Prussia, eats for supper ? Here is the menu :
cabbage soup, boiled beef with horse-radish and potatoes,
wild duck with salad, fruit, wine, and coffee with cigars. And
what would you say the conversation was about ? It is hard
to say exactly, but we travelled over almost the whole world
with the ease bred by familiarity. The Crown Prince, like
the Emperor, began with Tibet, and from there it was but
a step across the Himalayas to the palms of the Hugh Delta,
the pagodas of Benares, the silver moonlight over Taj Mahal,
the tigers of the jungle and the music of the crystal waves of
India beating against the rocks of Malabar point. We also
spoke of old unforgettable memories and of common friends
who now love as no longer—of the brave and famous Kitchener,
the conqueror of Omdurman and South Africa, of the Mara-
rajahs and their fairy-like splendour at Bikanir, Kutch Behar,
Gwalior, Kashmir and Idar.
We also talked about the war and its horrors, and the
terrible sacrifices it demands. " But it cannot be helped,"
said the Crown Prince, " our Fatherland asks us to give all
we have, and we will, we must win, even if the whole world
takes up arms against us."
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