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Noble Woman The Life-Story of Edith Cavell

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<h2>III</h2> <h3>THE ARREST</h3> On the evening of August 5 Nurse Cavell was engaged in binding lint on the wound of one of the invaders, when a peremptory knock on the door resounded through the quiet hospital. Not waiting for admission, half a dozen German soldiers burst open the door with the butt-ends of their rifles and entered the ward. Without preamble the corporal in charge seized Miss Cavell roughly, and commenced to drag her away from his wounded compatriot to whom she ministered. The Englishwoman did not quail before this uncouth representative of 'Kultur,'[Pg 30] but with calmness and dignity demanded to know the reason of the brutal exhibition of authority. The bullying corporal's instructions evidently included nothing in the way of explanation. He considered a cuff to be the best means of meeting the situation; and forthwith he marched her through the gathering gloom to the military prison of St. Gilles. The German authorities made no public announcement of the arrest of the English nurse or any of her alleged associates. In all probability at first they maintained secrecy in the hope of being able to incriminate other suspects, and thus make a clean sweep of an agency that had attempted to lift by the fraction of an inch the iron heel that was grinding out the life of suffering Belgium. Three weeks elapsed before Edith Cavell's relatives in England heard of her arrest from a chance traveller who had come to England from Belgium. The news was communicated to the Foreign Office, and on August 26 Sir Edward Grey requested Mr.[Pg 31] Page, the United States Ambassador in London, to make inquiry of the United States Minister at Brussels whether the arrest of Miss Cavell was an actual fact, and, if so, the reason assigned for it. In the interval the German authorities were hard at work in securing evidence, not merely to justify the arrest, but to provide plausible excuse for the execution of the prisoner, which later sinister mockeries of justice proved to have been a foregone conclusion from the commencement. It is believed that not only did German spies ransack Belgium for evidence, but some even visited Norwich to interrogate Miss Cavell's friends, to trace her movements, and, if possible, to intercept her correspondence. But even then the testimony against the prisoner aggregated but a sorry charge of presenting a great-coat to an ill-clad man, a glass of water to a thirsty pilgrim, and small coins to persons who were being hunted for their lives. There was a fear that these 'crimes' would[Pg 32] be insufficient to secure a conviction on a capital charge. There was no time to ferret out any real damning testimony, and so the jailers of the English nurse fell back upon the method of attempting to convict her out of her own mouth. It requires to be accentuated that Miss Cavell, apart from her profession, was a well-read woman. She knew more than a little of modern German philosophy, and had come to believe that the triumph of Prussianism would result in the collapse of Christianity. Once, when she was expressing some such view, a friend inquired whether it was prudent. 'Prudent?' she exclaimed, with reproach in her eyes. 'In times like these, when terror makes might seem right, there is a higher duty than prudence.' And as she was a woman who would not count the cost of clinging to her standards, she was little likely to hide her opinions when confronted by the enemy. It is a prime feature of English justice that the veriest felon need not incriminate[Pg 33] himself; nay, he is specifically warned that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him. Practically he is reminded of the old legal axiom that a man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client, with the consequent advisability to bridle his tongue against any unwise admission. The conception of German justice in Brussels was the converse, and the accusers of the Red Cross representative of a hated race deliberately laid snares for the extortion of the evidence they required. The course of procedure was terribly reminiscent of the methods of the old Spanish Inquisition. True, Miss Cavell was not subjected to actual physical torture, but the mental strain was calculated to break down anything in the nature of obstinacy. With diabolical cunning she was cut off from communication with the world outside the jail as completely as if she were dead, lest any whisper of warning to guard her tongue might reach her from outside; and often she had to face[Pg 34] interrogation by brutal and implacable enemies, who sought not to do her justice, but only to assure her condemnation. It is a comfort to believe that Miss Cavell's keen perception and her knowledge of German unscrupulousness enabled her to realize the inevitable end that awaited her, thus saving her from carking speculation that might have unhinged her reason. With Christian fortitude she grasped the inestimable boon of resignation, fully assured that 'death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console.' Really the secrecy of her arrest and imprisonment and the precautions taken for her utter isolation were scarcely worth the trouble the crafty conspirators had taken, for Nurse Cavell took up a simple and heroic position that greatly simplified matters from the German standpoint. She was not an inexperienced girl, she was a noble woman of clever intellect, and had never been in doubt of the penalty she might incur by succouring compatriots[Pg 35] and friends in distress in defiance of the German military code. Inspired in her perilous work by the dictates of purest humanity, which has been the glory of women of all nations in all ages, she boldly avowed to her accusers that she had nothing to conceal. The last thing to have entered her mind would have been to attempt to mitigate her offence by lying; she would not even palter with disingenuousness. Not only did she admit the charges against her, but she related incidents about which her inquisitors had but the most fragmentary particulars, or even only flimsy suspicions. She did not hesitate to supply dates and details for which the spies had sought in vain. It is impossible to tell when Miss Cavell first became aware that a considerable number of her friends were under arrest. In any case during her long incarceration in prison and the numerous interrogations she had to undergo in order to elicit the admissions to construct the case against[Pg 36] her, she scrupulously avoided the implication of other persons. No brutality, no wheedling, no bribe, could ever have made that brave soul disloyal by word or deed to any of her associates. <hr /> [Pg 37] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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