Foreign News: Ransomed

In return for the payment of $400,000 in cash and a caravan of burros laden with all manner of goods, Moorish brigands released Yves Steeg (nephew of the French Resident General of Morocco, Theodore Steeg), Jean Maillet, the Baroness von Steinheil and her daughter, Mme. Marie Prokorov,* all of whom were captured and held for ransom about a month ago (TIME, Oct. 31). In addition, the two small Arnaud girls (whose parents were killed in ambush almost two months ago) were also released.

With the exception of Mme. Prokorov, pale and wasted, all the prisoners appeared healthy and little the worse for their experiences. The two men had beards a month old and both were clad in Moorish dress, their own clothes having been confiscated by the brigands. M. Steeg disported a flowing burnoose, under which he wore a gaudy pair of red breeches and a pullover sweater. M. Maillet was garbed in a coarse white tunic and velvet breeches. The two small Arnaud girls were literally covered with vermin and also dressed in Moorish costume. They stopped crying when familiar French voices soothed them, but asked repeatedly for their mamma and papa. Baroness Steinheil’s first request was for a mirror, in front of which sheimmediately set about powdering & rouging.

Yves Steeg told the tale of their capture and captivity:

“We were attacked on the open road and had not gone further into the danger zone than we had many times before. It was fairly late and we were not aware what had happened at first, but soon saw that we were surrounded by seven bandits armed with rifles. They did not lay hands upon us, but with their weapons forced us to drive the car into the woods until we had to abandon it there. It was here that they killed Mme. Prokorov’s little dog.

“They were joined by other natives, who forced us to march, the men being separated from the women. With only short intervals of rest they kept us walking all night and did not stop until nearly 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the next day.

“The women were exhausted, but our captors did not show the slightest pity, pricking us men frequently and sometimes the women with bayonets, for the brigands all had French rifles. When we protested they threatened to kill us. Once they put me and Maillet in chains, binding us together by the legs, but, due to the women’s weeping, they relented and gave us our liberty.

“But we were treated pretty well on the whole. We had a rough time of it on several occasions, and more than once I heard influential tribesmen asking, ‘Why keep them? Why sell them? They should be killed at once.’ “

* The Baroness & her daughter were erroneously reported in earlier dispatches to be the wives of MM. Steeg & Maillet.