222 Sportsmen Parsons in Peace and War 



of the best method of evading their alertness. As he sat by the 

 side of the road smoking his pipe and turning the matter over in 

 his mind, a cart drove by with an old woman in it wearing a huge 

 sun-bonnet. He at once realised that this was the disguise he 

 needed, and after a certain amount of discussion, persuasion, 

 and a small douceur, the old lady was induced to lend her 

 bonnet and an exceedingly dirty shawl. I believe the putting 

 on of the bonnet and its final arrangement caused both of them 

 considerable amusement. When all was fixed up satisfactorily, 

 if not comfortably. Captain Benton sat in the corner of the cart 

 among cabbages and vegetables of all sorts while the woman 

 drove him along, carrying on an animated conversation with 

 her sun-bonneted friend. 



The ruse was completely successful, and the chagrined and 

 bamboozled class had to admit that they were not as wide 

 awake as they ought to have been. I cannot help feeling a 

 little surprise that they did not suspect something after their 

 previous experience. 



Captain Benton made a splendid observation officer. He 

 had such an eye for detail, and his memory was extraordinary. 



Once when passing through a large military camp a woman 

 who was walking in the same direction as himself began asking 

 him questions about the camp which he considered suspicious. 

 He therefore made a mental note of her smart appearance, which 

 he afterwards wrote down and communicated to the authorities. 

 His description turned out to be astonishingly accurate in all 

 particulars : height, hair, eyes, size and shape of hat, details 

 of dress, stockings and shoes, even to the gloves and shape of 

 hands, as well as a small bag she carried. So clear was the 

 description that the police identified the woman in the 

 course of two days. He had only seen her for a few moments. 

 Captain Benton often said the British soldier was too un- 

 suspicious, and in consequence easily outwitted by a more wily 

 enemy. He was very anxious to dress up in a German soldier's 

 uniform and see if he could not pass through an English camp 

 undetected, and he believed he could do it. The idea was not 

 carried out, owing to the difficulty at the time of getting the 

 necessary uniform. 



Captain Benton was at all times anxious to hand on what he 

 had learnt from experience. This was much appreciated by 



