This letter was delivered to M. Kirschen by a mes-
senger of the Legation, and M. de Leval waited anx-
iously for his next report.
VI. THE TRIAL

On Thursday, October 7th, the trial of Edith Cavell
and her fellow-prisoners began. It was nine weeks
since her first arrest and imprisonment. That had
been on August 5th, and all this time she had been re-
tained (unconvicted though she was) in soUtary con-



404 THE DEATH OF EDITH CAVELL

finement, cut off from communion with her friends
and from all intercourse whatsoever with the outside
world. Now she was brought before the Military
Court to be convicted — the only verdict by which her
judges could justify the conduct of her gaolers.
M. de Leval was not present at the trial — ^he could
hardly have gone against M. Kirschen's deliberately
expressed advice — ^but he has embodied in his rej)ort a
very exact account of the proceedings, which he after-
ward obtained from some one who had taken part in
them. We may say at once that this informant was
not M. Kirschen. How that came to be will appear
hereafter. Meanwhile, it is sufficient to indicate the
source from which M. de LevaFs narrative comes,
and we may draw on it with confidence for our own
information.
Says M. de LevaFs informant:

Miss Cavell was prosecuted for having helped English and
French soldiers, as well as Belgian young men, to cross the fron-
tier and to go over to England. She had admitted by signing a
statement before the day of the trial, and by public ackno^edg-
ment in court, in the presence of all the other prisoners, and the
lawyers, that she was guilty of the charges brought against her.
