The Maryknoll Mission, Hong Kong 1941-46
61
tomato catsup, and we soon had a cupful of each of delicious stew, or what have you. We were allowed to go not more than a few feet away from our garage, such desperate criminals we evidently were. But this was far enough to exchange a few words with the British soldiers who had come in two nights before. They gave us a little tea, and said they were pretty well supplied with food. That night, when we were tied up again after our supper, the guards tied our hands not behind our back as heretofore, but in front, and as a consequence we slept a little more comfortably.
The twenty-eighth. Our bonds were removed, we were again allowed to go outside to cook our meals. There happened to be a few straggling vegetables growing within the ambitus of our permitted area, and these went into our stew. For cups and dishes we used the milk cans which we had the day before, and the hard-tack container was our all-purpose kettle. Fathers Meyer and Walter were our capable cooks, and as we were allowed to get water from a well we did not fare too badly. After cooking our meals we had to return to the interior of the garage, though finally our bonds were entirely removed. About this time we came across a few burlap bags and when we were allowed outside we managed to pull up enough dried grass to stuff these bags for pillows. Providentially the weather continued mild and we did not suffer from cold.
As we were preparing our noonday meal we heard a truck rumble by, and from it a cheery voice hailed Father Toomey. The truck stopped and even pulled into our driveway, and Major Kerr, a British officer whom Father Toomey knew very well, jumped down. Major Kerr, knowing Japanese, was acting as interpreter for the time being, and was even now with the British prisoners in the room adjoining us. Seeing our plight, he promised to do what he could for us and a little later managed to bring out a few cases of food for us and for the British soldiers. We also asked him to see what he could do about getting us off the cement floor of the garage and, after a conversation with an officer, we were allowed to go upstairs in the house where there was at least a wood floor. Accordingly, we lost no time in moving our very few effects to this new domicile.
We had not been upstairs for more than a few hours when a Japanese officer called us all to come down. We lined up in front of him, and in broken English he said, "Japanese. English. Finished"