Here, for the first time, I saw the German officers--quantities of them.

Strangely out of place they looked, with their pink-and-whiteness that no amount of hot sunshine could quite burn off.

They wore the regular German officer's uniform, except that the _Pickelhaube_ was replaced by a khaki sun-helmet.

I was struck by the youthfulness of them; many were nothing but boys, and there were weak, dissolute faces in plenty--a fact that was later explained when I heard that Palestine had been the dumping-ground for young men of high family whose parents were anxious to have them as far removed as possible from the danger zone.

Fast's Hotel was the great meeting-place in Jerusalem for these young bloods.
Every evening thirty or forty would foregather there to drink and talk women and strategy.