Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/245

 monplace and dull. Many of them viewed him with mild curiosity as they passed, and one or two grinned. The guards leaned on their rifles and merely watched. Escape would probably have been impossible, since a marine was stationed at every outlet, and, for that matter, it was extremely doubtful, Nelson thought, whether they wanted to escape!

Presently he moved across to where the new pile was forming. The prisoners worked methodically but slowly. When out of ear-shot of the guards they conversed in low tones. One of their number, a round-faced youth of twenty-two or thereabouts, was working by himself, carrying long iron bolts. Nelson observed that he wasn't overburdening himself and that he looked quite satisfied with conditions. The second time he passed he looked across at Nelson, smiled and said: "Hello, kid!" Nelson said "Hello" in reply before he was struck with the oddity of the phrase from the lips of a German prisoner of war. Coming back again the youth stopped.

"How's everything in America?" he asked. He spoke with very little accent.

"All right," answered Nelson.

"I used to live there," went on the other. "St. Louis. Great town, St. Louis. I lived there eight 220