That not inconsiderable number of people who doubt the sincerity of Germany's outward change of heart since the War, and who watch with suspicious eyes for signs that the old spirit still lingers, will find plenty to reassure them in the escape of Lieutenant Dittmar from the prison in Naumberg. Condemned by the Supreme Court of Leipsig for his connection with the sinking of the hospital-ship Liandovery Castle during the war, he was given the heavy sentence of four years as an "example and a warning", and an earnest of good faith on the part of the German Government. Now he is reported to have "eluded, the vigilance" of his guards and disappeared, with the major portion of his sentence along with him. A reward of fifty thousand marks (in paper) has been offered for his return.

Germany is trying comedy. Threats, cajolery, and opera bouffe tactics having failed, she will prove her sincerity by tickling the Allies into good humor and assuring the world of her childlike simplicity. Taking French leave of a German prison is drollery itself. And the notion of a reward should bring a roar of laughter from those who know Germany's financial state. "Laugh and the world laughs with you" is still a live adage across the Rhine. It will be interesting to see whether the convict-clown will be finally discovered playfully torpedoing canal barges in the proposed trans-Alpine waterway, or indulging in a lively game of "pease-porridge-hot" with his former jailers. Either would be a fitting third act, and one at which the Germans could indulge in their infectious laughter to the merriment of everyone. Indeed, 'tis a pretty play, and surpasses even the time-worn spectacle of a cat chasing its tail. The Lieutenant is the only loser; for in all probability his official carfare will be taken from him to furnish the money with which to pay the "reward". But you cannot act in a custard-pie comedy without coming into contact with some of the pie. At any rate, it does seem small for the rest of us to distrust a nation that is making so honest an effort to be ingenuously amusing.